The Vessel sculpture at New York City's Hudson Yards will reopen on Friday - five months after it was closed following a spate of suic...
The Vessel sculpture at New York City's Hudson Yards will reopen on Friday - five months after it was closed following a spate of suicides.
Three people plunged to their deaths from the 150-foot-high structure in the 12 months before it was shuttered and officials are now putting in place a series of new rules to help prevent further tragedies.
Solo visitors will be banned from the 16-story structure, after it was revealed that each of the suicide victims climbed the Vessel on their own.
'The Vessel was envisioned as a shared, immersive design experience. Requiring visitors to attend in groups of two or more significantly enhances the safety of the experience,' Hudson Yards owner, Related Companies, told The New York Post.
In addition, security will be tripled at the structure and 'screening procedures' have been put in place 'to detect high-risk behaviors'.
There will also be National Suicide Prevention Lifeline messaging at the entrance of the tourist attraction as well as on printed tickets.
The Vessel sculpture at New York City's Hudson Yards will reopen on Friday - five months after it was closed following a spate of suicides
Solo visitors will be banned from the 16-story structure, after it was revealed that each of the suicide victims climbed the Vessel on their own
The Vessel opened in March 2019, and quickly became of the Big Apple's hot new tourist attractions, boasting hundreds of thousands of visitors.
But tragedy struck just 11 months after its opening, when 19-year-old Connecticut college student Peter DeSalvo, leapt to his death off the structure's 16th story in front of dozens of tourists.
DeSalvo, of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, was a freshman at Sacred Heart University where he also played rugby.
Then, in December 2020, 24-year-old Yocheved Gourarie, from Brooklyn, committed suicide at the Vessel.
The following day, her apparent suicide note was shared in a posthumous scheduled post on her Instagram account.
Gourarie then wrote: 'Hey. This is pretty surreal isn't it? One might say uncomfortable. Jarring. Just close the app now if you want. I guess if you don't know by now you should probably sit down.
'If you're reading this, I'm gone. Either that or somehow incapacitated in the hospital so I can't delete this scheduled post. I really hope I'm not though.'
In the post, she acknowledged posting her suicide note would likely cause her parents pain.
'I don't want to do that, I just want to leave my last mark on this world,' Gourarie wrote.
'All of you have made my life so much more full, brighter, and happier than it would have been without you. Your support, your encouragement, your hugs, your invitations, your smiles, your texts, your tagging me in memes you think I'd find funny.'
She ended the post by writing 'I love you.'
Peter DeSalvo, 19, leapt to his death off the structure's 16th story in front of dozens of tourists in February 2020. DeSalvo, of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, was a freshman at Sacred Heart University where he also played rugby
On December 22, Yocheved Gourarie, 24 (left and right), died by suicide at the Vessel. She posthumously shared a suicide note in a scheduled Instagram post
Just three weeks later, a third person plunged to their death from the structure.
The 21-year-old Texas native leapt from the top of the Vessel after being sought as a person of interest in the stabbing death of his mother.
The Vessel was created by British designer Thomas Heatherwick and cost an eye-watering $200million.
Concerns previously had previously been raised about the Vessel's chest-height railings, with Audrey Wachs, the former associate editor of The Architect's Newspaper, writing in 2016: 'when you build high, folks will jump.'
A police car is seen outside the Vessel following the third suicide in January
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