A struggle to prevent suicides at soaring NYC sculpture

NEW YORK — When it opened 2 1/2 years ago near the Hudson River, the 150-foot-tall piece of public art known as the Vessel looked like another surefire Manhattan tourist draw. “The only thing that’s going to work is raising the height of the barriers,” said Lowell Kern, chair of Community Board 4, which represents residents of the area. “At this point after four deaths, artistic vision doesn’t matter any more.” Tall landmarks in New York City and elsewhere have long had to deal with the reality of having to balance a desire for thrilling views and aesthetics with a need for suicide prevention measures, like nets or fences. Heatherwick Studios said in a statement it was “distraught.” It said it had “exhaustively explored physical solutions that would increase safety and they require further rigorous tests, and while we have not identified one yet, we continue to work to identify a solution that is feasible in terms of engineering and installation.” The local community board had initially suggested installing taller barriers in a letter sent after the first death in 2020, but got no official response, Kern said. New York University struggled with suicides in the indoor atrium at its 12-story Bobst library, first installing plexiglass barricades as a prevention measure, then upgrading to perforated aluminum screens to enclose its crosswalks when the glass didn’t stop one more death.