Tag Archives: NYC

The Vessel

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The Vessel

The Vessel is a sixteen-story artwork in Hudson Yards, NYC. It was built in 2017 as part of a half-billion-dollar redevelopment of the Yards into an office park. Located at the northern terminus of The High Line it is a project that has been plagued by suicides. A number of people have used it to kill themselves by jumping from its upper floors. It was closed in 2021 but was reopened with the new policy that all visitors must be accompanied by someone else. This policy change did not work, and the site was again closed to visitors.

Various safety measures, like raising the guardrails, have been proposed, but none have been acted upon yet. This Wiki video gives a drone’s eye view of the structure, while it was still under construction. A nearby attraction, The Edge, basically a balcony, offers a much higher view and has not been plagued by suicide seekers. It is a pity that no resolution has been brought forward for The Vessel, because the images shown on Wiki certainly look Instagram worthy. 

Staircases for the Vessel – 2017

Insurmountable Difficulties

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40 Wall Street

Built in 1929, the Manhattan Company Building (40 Wall Street) vied to be the world’s tallest building. It was competing with the Chrysler Building for that honor, but got hoodwinked at the last moment. Builders of the Chrysler Building hid their radio mast inside their building until it was too late for the builders of the Manhattan Company Building to do anything about it. Then they erected the mast and surpassed the other’s height. The Chrysler Building’s fame was short lived though, because the next year the Empire State Building was erected and became the world’s tallest building. In 1995 the Manhattan Company Building was acquired by the Trump organization and was renamed 40 Wall Street. Following this year’s civil fraud judgement against Trump, this property is one of the assets that could be seized by the state of New York as early as this Sunday, in lieu of a bond being filed. Today, Trump’s lawyers announced that they are experiencing “insurmountable difficulties” in raising that bond.