Yahoo News Developer considers closing iconic ‘Vessel’ attraction as teen becomes fourth to kill himself at site
The billionaire developer behind the Vessel at New York City’s Hudson Yards is considering closing the structure, after a 14-year-old boy jumped to his death from the tourist attraction, marking the fourth suicide in two years.
The teenager leapt from the eighth story of the Manhattan tourist attraction on Thursday afternoon and was pronounced dead just before 1pm, according to the NYPD.
Police have not released the identity of the teenager.
He is the fourth person to die by suicide at the venue since it was opened in 2019.
“We thought we did everything that would really prevent this,” Stephen Ross, who serves as chairman of the development company behind the Vessel, told The Daily Beast. “It’s hard to really fathom how something like that could happen. But you know, I feel terrible for the family.”
The 150-foot structure was closed in January after three people died by suicide there in less than a year.
It reopened to visitors in May with a range of suicide prevention measures, including a ban on solo visitors.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline signage was installed at the entrance to the $150m building.
Positive messaging created with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation was also installed at the attraction’s entrance.
However, the height of the barriers along the Vessel’s walkway were not raised, as community groups had called for.
In January, a 21-year-old San Antonio man leapt from the Vessel. Franklin Washington had been sought by police in relation to the murder of his mother Michelle Washington.
A month earlier in December 2020, a woman in her 20s also died at the landmark.
In February of that year promising rugby player from New Jersey Peter DeSalvo died after jumping from the structure.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached 24/7 at 800-273-8255.
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