I climbed Vessel, the $200 million, 2,500-step sculpture in Hudson Yards - and the view from the inside blew me away

Katie Warren

Mar 18, 2019, 23:39 IST

I climbed Vessel, the $200 million, 2,500-step sculpture in Hudson Yards - and the view from the inside blew me away

Katie Warren/Business Insider

The Vessel is open to the public and free to visit.

The Vessel is a brand-new, 150-foot tall climbable sculpture in New York City's new $25 billion Hudson Yards neighborhood.
The sculpture cost $200 million to build and features 154 interconnected staircases, nearly 2,500 individual steps, and 80 landings.
I was one of the first to climb the Vessel on Hudson Yards' opening day, and I found the view of the inside was way cooler than just seeing the exterior.

The Vessel, a $200 million climbable sculpture in New York City's Hudson Yards, is now officially open to the public.

Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, it's the sculptural centerpiece of Hudson Yards, Manhattan's new $25 billion neighborhood that includes office buildings, luxurious residential towers, and a seven-story luxury shopping center with stores like Louis Vuitton and Dior.

Called the Vessel, the 150-foot tall climbable sculpture cost an estimated $200 million to build, according to Curbed. It includes 154 interconnected staircases, nearly 2,500 individual steps, and 80 landings.

"[The Vessel] is going to be to New York City what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris," Jeff Blau, the CEO of Related Companies, the developer behind Hudson Yards, told CBS.

I was one of the first to climb the Vessel on Hudson Yards' opening day. Here's what it was like.

I was one of the first to climb the Vessel, a $200 million sculpture in New York City's Hudson Yards.

Hudson Yards is New York City's new $25 billion neighborhood that includes office buildings, luxury residential towers, a seven-story shopping center, and a performing arts center. It officially opened to the public on March 15, but it won't be completely finished until 2025.

The Vessel anchors a public plaza ringed by brand-new buildings that include the Shed, a performing arts center, the seven-story luxury shopping center, and residential towers 15 Hudson Yards and 35 Hudson Yards.

The Vessel anchors a public plaza ringed by brand-new buildings that include the Shed, a performing arts center, the seven-story luxury shopping center, and residential towers 15 Hudson Yards and 35 Hudson Yards.

Source: Hudson Yards

Entrance to the Vessel is free, but you have to reserve a time slot online. It's open every day from 10:00 am to 9:00 pm.

I didn't need a reservation because it was opening day, so I walked right inside behind CNN's Anderson Cooper, who was a host of the Hudson Yards grand opening event.

Depending on who you ask, the Vessel resembles anything from a honeycomb to a giant shawarma.

But standing inside the Vessel is a completely different experience than looking at it from the outside.

Looking up, I could see Hudson Yards' glossy new towers jutting into the sky.

From the bottom, you can choose to start at one of several different staircases.

The Vessel is made up of 154 interconnected staircases, 80 landings ...

... and nearly 2,500 individual steps.

The sculpture's designer, Thomas Heatherwick, said it was partially inspired by Indian stepwells, which are wells or ponds where you take a step of steps down to the water.

It took me about 15 minutes to walk to the top, and that was with plenty of stopping to take photos.

There's also an elevator, making it accessible to those who can't climb stairs.

Looking down from near the top, I couldn't decide if I felt like I was standing inside the rib cage of some kind of giant robotic creature or inside an alien spaceship.

From the top of the Vessel, you can look out over Hudson Yards' remaining visible rail yards toward the Hudson River.

The silhouette of the sculpture against the skyline is striking.

I've never seen anything like it.

Some people were literally bending over backward to get the perfect selfie in the Vessel.

I can see why some people might not find the Vessel's exterior particularly attractive, but the inside really blew me away.

The structure, which cost an estimated $200 million to build, was fabricated in Italy and arrived in New York in six separate shipments.

You can't climb Vessel after 9:00 pm, but it's still impressive to see the outside at nighttime when it's illuminated.

The Vessel's designer, Thomas Heatherwick, called it "one of the most complex pieces of steelwork ever made."

Related Companies CEO Jeff Blau compared the Vessel to the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. "We said we want to design a 365-days-a-year Christmas tree, so that every single person who comes here has to come to Hudson Yards," he said on Bloomberg TV. "And that's the Vessel."

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