THE VESSEL

Vessel (also known as Hudson Yards Staircase) is a public building, a scenic spot, and part of the Hudson Yards Area Redevelopment Project in Manhattan, New York City. Construction started in April 2017, topped out in December 2017 and opened to visitors on March 15, 2019.

Vessel is a 16-story structure of connecting stairs between Hudson Yards buildings, located in the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Hudson Yards Public Square. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, Vessel features 154 stairs, 2,500 steps and 80 stair heads from the ground floor 50 feet (15 m) wide to the top 150 feet (46 m) wide, for a total length of stairs up to more than 1 mile (1.6 km). The structure also has ramps and lifts to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Vessel takes on an unusual shape that forms an area prominent areas such as the "12-month Christmas tree". The steps are covered with copper, arranged sequentially like a climbing frame and modeled after Indian stepwells.

Coming to Vessel, visitors will experience an exciting journey: climb the steps like a real climbing frame and explore the entire 16-story structure. On the top of the structure, tourists can see the whole landscape of the romantic Hudson River. In recent years, Vessel has become the ideal virtual check-in place for Americans visiting New York from other states.

According to the plan, Vessel will only be the temporary name of the building during construction and a permanent name for it will be determined later.