New York City’s notorious suicide spot will reopen later this year with large cut-proof mesh safety screens after four visitors took their own lives by jumping off the ritzy development.
The Vessel, located on Manhattan’s west side, is a 150-foot-high artwork shaped like an inverted beehive made up with stairways and platforms.
Three visitors jumped to their deaths from the climbable sculpture in less than a year, prompting the Vessel to close in January 2021.
It reopened later that year with additional rules, including a ban on solo visitors, but closed again after a 14-year-old leapt from the structure while visiting with his family.
A spokesperson for Related Companies, which owns Hudson Yards, said on Friday that the landmark will reopen to the public later this year, although an exact date for reopening is not clear.
New York City ‘s notorious suicide spot will reopen later this year with large cut-proof mesh safety screens after four visitors took their own lives by jumping off the ritzy development
The Vessel, located on Manhattan’s west side, is a 150-foot-high artwork shaped like an inverted beehive made up with stairways and platforms. Pictured: https://nhanlambangcap24h.com/ authorities on scene after a 14-year-old jumped from the Vessel
Three visitors jumped to their deaths from the climbable sculpture in less than a year, prompting the Vessel to close in January 2021. Pictured: 19-year-old Peter DeSalvo (left) and 24-year-old Yocheved Gourarie(right) who took their lives by leaping from the structure
‘Floor-to-ceiling steel mesh’ is currently being installed on the building’s twisting stairways and platforms as safety measures, according to the spokesperson.
‘Through a closely coordinated effort with Thomas Heatherwick and Heatherwick Studio, we have developed a plan to install floor-to-ceiling steel mesh on Vessel while also preserving the unique experience that has drawn millions of visitors from around the globe,’ the spokesperson said in a statement.
The first two levels will be fully open to visitors, while on the upper levels, only areas with barriers will be accessible, as reported by CBS.
The floor-to-ceiling mesh is not possible at the very top level as it needs to be secured at both the top and bottom of each floor, the top level will remain closed.
City officials and local community boards have long called for adding protections to the structure since the first suicide incident occurred.
Jessica Chait, the chair of the Manhattan community board, said the safety measure should have been added sooner.
“While we think it took Related four lives too many to make these physical adjustments, these are the changes we requested, which will allow for prioritizing the safety of everyone who visits the Vessel,” she told AP.
The first two levels will be fully open to visitors, while on the upper levels, only areas with barriers will be accessible, as reported by CBS
The floor-to-ceiling mesh is not possible at the very top level as it needs to be secured at both the top and bottom of each floor, the top level will remain closed
The first suicide at the Vessel occurred in February 2020, 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.
Months later, Yocheved Gourarie, 24, died by suicide shortly before Christmas. Her apparent suicide note was shared in a posthumous scheduled post on her Instagram account.
Gourarie 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.’
Gourarie wrote that she didn’t ‘care to go into the reasons why I’m gone, but there are certainly more than thirteen,’ referencing the popular young adult novel and Netflix TV series, 13 Reasons Why, about high school students in the wake of a classmate’s suicide.
The first suicide at the Vessel occurred in February 2020, 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
Months later, Yocheved Gourarie, 24, died by suicide shortly before Christmas. Her apparent suicide note was shared in a posthumous scheduled post on her Instagram account
A police car is seen outside the Vessel following the third suicide in January, 2021, when 21-year-old Franklin Washington, took his own life by jumping off the Vessel
Three weeks later, the third person, 21-year-old Franklin Washington, took his own life by jumping off the Vessel.
Before he died, he was being sought as a person of interest in the stabbing death of his mother, reported the New York Post.
Michelle Washington-Hart, 56, was found murdered inside her apartment in the 7600 block of Highway 90 East in San Antonio on Friday, after family members were unable to reach her and requested a welfare check, reported KSAT.
Following the three suicides, the $200million tourist attraction was closed briefly. When it’s reopened in May, 2021, new rules were drawn up in an effort to prevent further suicides.
The building implemented a ban on solo visitors with a minimum of two people per visit. Staff were also placed in the structure looking for individuals in distress.
Two months after it reopened, a 14-year-old boy from New Jersey leapt from the eighth floor of the 150-foot structure during a visit with his parents, sister and grandmother.
For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255
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The Vessel, a Manhattan tourist site closed after suicides, will reopen later this year | AP News