Vessel: New York’s Coolest New (Free) Attraction

By: Mike Joy, Couchsurfing Community Manager
Top photo by Mike Joy

In a city of never-ending photo ops, the newly opened Hudson Yards has added yet another must-see stop on your next trip.

If you know someone who has visited New York City in 2019, chances are you’ve seen a picture of them in front of a brass structure that looks like an unconnected set of stairways. This beautiful landmark is NYC’s newest (and potentially coolest) tourist attraction.

The best part? It is completely free to climb!

The internal staircases you climb, seen from the elevator (By SCOOTERCASTER/shutterstock)

Vessel, located in the newly opened ‘Hudson Yards’ neighborhood, is a honeycomb-like structure created by two interconnected stairways.

It sits in the middle of the Hudson Yards, surrounded by chic hotels, apartments and a shopping center, and as the Hudson Yards New York’s official website states, it is “comprised of 154 intricately interconnecting flights of stairs — almost 2,500 individual steps and 80 landings — the vertical climb offers remarkable views of the city, the river and beyond.”

Vessel viewed from below. The top has views of the Hudson River, Hudson yards development and the NYC skyline. (By Leonard Zhukovsky/shutterstock)

Vessel is completely free to climb, as long as you reserve ahead of time. At the time of writing, you could reserve a 1-hour time slot seven days in advance. So a week before you head to New York, head to the Hudson Yards’ website and choose what time you want to go up?

Already in New York? For USD$10 you can do a ‘Flex Pass‘ and go today.

If stairs aren’t your thing, you don’t have to miss out. There is an elevator that takes you from the entrance straight up to the top platform so can still enjoy the view!

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