Landmark

The Vessel

New York City, United States

The Vessel — Wikimedia Commons image

The Vessel rises from Hudson Yards’ public square as a climbable lattice of stairs and landings. Its copper-coloured surfaces catch shifting reflections, while the repeated flights turn the act of looking at a landmark into a route through it.

Guide preview

From the plaza, the Vessel reads like a woven basket opened at the top. Move your eyes from its narrow base to its wider crown: the outward flare is built from flights of stairs that cross and reconnect around a central void.

Continue exploring

Discover the full story

Keep reading with a travel pass and explore every full guide and tour.

Upgrade

Quick facts

  • Thomas Heatherwick and Heatherwick Studio designed the Vessel.
  • It has 154 flights of stairs and 80 landings.
  • Its component sections were fabricated in Italy and shipped to Manhattan.

More places in New York City

landmark

New York City, United StatesGuide with pass

9/11 Memorial

The 9/11 Memorial’s twin pools occupy the footprints of the former World Trade Center towers. Water descends into central voids beside bronze parapets of names, giving absence a physical form within a grove of swamp white oaks.

museum

New York City, United StatesGuide with pass

American Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History occupies a sequence of halls and buildings opposite Central Park, turning scientific collections into public encounters with nature, human cultures, and the universe. Its founding mandate explicitly joined research with accessible instruction.

entertainment

New York City, United StatesGuide with pass

Apollo Theater

The Apollo Theater’s illuminated sign marks a Harlem institution that has shaped American popular music. Amateur Night began here in 1934, giving emerging performers a stage and an audience whose response could help launch remarkable careers.

park

New York City, United StatesGuide with pass

Battery Park

Battery Park, also known as The Battery, occupies Manhattan’s southern tip at the meeting of the Hudson and East Rivers. Its waterfront paths, monuments and Castle Clinton connect the city’s harbor history with today’s public park life.

entertainment

New York City, United StatesGuide with pass

Broadway Theatre District

The Broadway Theatre District concentrates historic playhouses around Times Square, where marquees announce live performance amid a dense transit and commercial hub. The district moved north with Manhattan’s growth and settled here as transportation made audiences easier to gather.

nature

New York City, United StatesGuide with pass

Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo combines a large urban park landscape with animal habitats and conservation work. Its wooded grounds create a surprising sense of distance from city streets, while exhibits connect visitors with wildlife and the ecosystems that need protection.