The Vessel is the 150-foot-tall structure of interlocking staircases at the center of Hudson Yards, and one of the most photographed pieces of public art in New York City since it opened in March 2019. Designed by British architect Thomas Heatherwick, it's a honeycomb of 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings, rising in a copper-clad lattice from a 50-foot base to a 150-foot rim, and it was conceived as a landmark visitors could climb and explore rather than simply look at, with views of the Hudson River and the West Side skyline changing at every landing.
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Officially unnamed, it was called the Vessel as a placeholder and the name stuck. It cost about $200 million and was inspired, Heatherwick has said, by the stepwells of India, where flights of stairs descend to water. From below it's a bowl; from above it's a basket; from inside, climbing the staircases, it's a maze of perspectives that has made it one of the most Instagrammed structures in the world.
The Vessel closed to climbing in 2021 after a series of deaths, and reopened in 2024 with new safety barriers and mesh installed on the upper levels, with access to the climb by timed ticket. The base level and the plaza around it remain free to visit, and the structure is the centerpiece of any visit to Hudson Yards, at the northern end of the High Line and beside the Edge observation deck.
The Vessel has been the centerpiece of Hudson Yards since 2019. Here are the key facts every visitor should know:
The Vessel's plaza is open daily, and climbing runs on a timed-ticket schedule, so the best time depends on whether you're looking or climbing.
For photographs from the plaza, late afternoon is best: the sun from the west lights the copper cladding and it glows against the glass towers behind. Early morning on a weekday is the quietest time in the plaza, with the structure empty of people in your frame. Midday brings the harshest light and the most visitors.
For climbing, book a late-afternoon slot so the landings look west over the Hudson in good light, and check the schedule when you book, since climbing hours have varied since the 2024 reopening. The structure is exposed, so wind and cold are factors in winter, and summer afternoons on the upper landings are hot.
The Vessel is the northern end of the High Line, and the best plan combines them: walk the High Line north in the afternoon, arrive at Hudson Yards as the light softens, see the Vessel, and finish with a sunset slot at Edge next door, which looks straight down onto it.
The Vessel stands in the public plaza at the center of Hudson Yards on Manhattan's Far West Side, at 20 Hudson Yards between 30th and 33rd Streets. Take the 7 train to 34th Street–Hudson Yards, the line's final stop, which exits directly onto the plaza beside the structure.
The High Line's northern terminus is at Hudson Yards, so the elevated park delivers you to the Vessel's base if you walk it north from Chelsea, about 45 minutes from Gansevoort Street. The A, C, and E trains stop at 34th Street–Penn Station, a ten-minute walk east. Edge and the Shops at Hudson Yards are steps away.
Use our interactive NYC subway guide to plan your exact route from any hotel or neighborhood before you arrive.
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