In 2019, when the Vessel, a honeycomb-shaped installation composed of 154 staircases, opened to the public, its architect Thomas Heatherwick told the press, “The whole point was to be lifting up hundreds of people and thousands of people every day. Like the Italian promenade…to share in an extraordinary experience. It’s not finished until you’re on it. We’re waiting and watching what’s going to happen.” Heatherwick, who built the structure as the centrepiece of the Hudson Yards development project, must have least expected the morbid turn of events.

In December 2020, a 24-year-old woman from New York died after jumping from the structure, following the suicide of a 19-year-old man in February 2019 before the structure’s official opening. After the third suicide in January this year, safety checks were introduced by Related Companies, the firm that controls Hudson Yards. A USD 10 entrance fee was introduced and a rule now forbids visitors from climbing the structure alone. This too proved insufficient. A 14-year-old boy jumped to his death from the Vessel in July this year, in the presence of his family.