New York City’s notorious suicide spot reopens with protective netting after four jumped to their deaths
Tourists once again climbed the steps of the beehive-shaped Vessel sculpture in Manhattan after it reopened for the first time in three years, now with nets aimed at reducing the risk of suicides like the four that forced its closure.
About 75 visitors had purchased tickets and were queuing to enter the metal honeycomb design when it opened Monday morning.
Within minutes they passed through a security checkpoint and zoomed past the stairs and viewing platforms, the highest of which is about 50 meters high.
The flexible mesh allowed visitors to extend their phones, but not their bodies, to get a view of the sculpture’s interior and the surrounding cityscape.
The Ship, the honeycomb-shaped vertical sculpture and sightseeing platform at Hudson Yards in New York City, has reopened with additional safety features and has been closed since 2021
The ship was closed after a 14-year-old boy jumped to his death in July 2021
“The photos you can take from below and above are so beautiful,” says Alexandre Paes, a software engineer from Rio de Janeiro.
The ship opened in March 2019 and quickly became one of the Big Apple’s hottest new tourist attractions, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors.
But tragedy struck just eleven months after it opened, when 19-year-old Connecticut student Peter DeSalvo jumped to his death from the building’s 16th floor in front of dozens of tourists.
DeSalvo, from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, was a freshman at Sacred Heart University, where he also played rugby.
Then, 24-year-old Yocheved Gourarie, from Brooklyn, committed suicide on the ship in December 2020.
The next day, her apparent suicide note was shared in a posthumous planned post on her Instagram account.
Gourarie then wrote, “Hey. This is pretty surreal, isn’t it? Uncomfortable, you might say. Shocking. Close the app now if you want. I think if you don’t know by now, you should probably sit down.
Peter DeSalvo, 19, jumped to his death from the 16th floor of the structure in front of dozens of tourists in February 2020
‘If you’re reading this, I’ll be gone. Either that, or somehow incapacitated in the hospital, so I can’t delete this scheduled post. But I really hope not.’
In the post, she acknowledged that posting her suicide note would likely hurt her parents.
“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 fuller, brighter and happier than it would have been without you. Your support, your encouragement, your hugs, your invites, your smiles, your texts, your tagging me in memes that you think I would find funny.”
She ended the message by writing, “I love you.”
In December 2020, Yocheved Gourarie, 24 (left and right), died by suicide on the ship. She posthumously shared a suicide note in a planned Instagram post
This isn’t the first time the site has closed and reopened with new safety features.
After three people jumped out of the building and committed suicide, it reopened with guards and an unusual rule: no one was allowed to visit alone.
Despite those safety measures, another person died in 2021, forcing the closure once again.
On that occasion, a 14-year-old boy from New Jersey jumped from the eighth floor of the 50-meter-high building while visiting his parents, sister and grandmother.
The ship reopened Monday with floor-to-ceiling mesh barriers on all walkable areas, partially obstructing some views and closing much of the upper levels to visitors.
The ship is equipped with nets intended to reduce the risk of suicides such as those that forced its closure
The statue was designed by Thomas Heatherwick and made in Venice. But the supporters were surprised by the safety problems.
“We wanted people to come here and have fun,” said Andy Rosen, COO of Related Companies, which owns Hudson Yards.
On Monday, tourists did just that, taking selfies and chasing the ever-changing light that bounces off neighboring skyscrapers and filters through the hexagonal openings.
“It’s kind of like turning the page,” Rosen said, adding that even the more limited set of views allows visitors to interact with the sculpture and create a unique experience.
“The mesh is good, not only for safety, but also for people like me who are afraid of heights,” says Daniel Palumbo of Pennsville Township, New Jersey.
The ship rises from the ground like a stretched basket, hollow in the center with scalable stairs on the lower levels in all directions.
The reopened portions of the structure will allow visitors to ascend the top level in a single section near the structure’s elevator exit, with views of Hudson Yards’ tallest chrome and glass skyscrapers.
The flexible mesh allows visitors to extend their phone, but not their body, to get a view of the sculpture’s interior and the surrounding cityscape
‘I don’t think this view in particular is the best one we can take pictures of. I think it would be nice if you could go there and take one of the rivers,” Paes said, adding that he had already seen better views of the Hudson from nearby Little Island Park.
The elevator was not working Monday morning, preventing some people from reaching the top and at least one customer receiving a refunded ticket.
“I came two years ago and it was closed,” said Andrea Niño de Guzmán of Milwaukee, who posed for photos with one of her cousins, who was visiting from Guadalajara, Mexico.
She said a third cousin, who was visiting from Sweden and used a wheelchair because of a temporary injury, left after the elevator malfunction was discovered and the operators refunded the woman’s $10 ticket, Niño de Guzmán said.
The ship is open every day from 10am to 9pm and has free admission for New York City residents on Thursdays.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can reach Samaritans NYC at 212-673-3000 or the Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386.
For confidential help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988.