Hudson Yards’ spiraling staircase centerpiece, the Vessel, will reopen to the public this year — with mesh safety barriers in place. 

The climbable art installation closed to visitors in July 2021 after four people died by suicide jumping from its interconnecting flights of stairs. 

“Through a closely coordinated effort with Thomas Heatherwick and Heatherwick Studio, we have developed a plan to install floor-to-ceiling steel mesh on Vessel while also preserving the unique experience that has drawn millions of visitors from around the globe,” a spokesperson for Hudson Yards said in a statement Friday. 

Heatherwick, a British architect, designed the 150-foot-tall steel structure, which the chairman and founder of Hudson Yards’ developer, Related Companies, said he envisioned as New York’s answer to the Eiffel Tower.

“We look forward to welcoming visitors back to Vessel later this year,” Hudson Yards’ spokesperson added, without providing an exact opening date.

The Vessel first opened its doors in March 2019, when officials cut the ribbon at the skyscraper-strewn neighborhood on Manhattan’s west side. 

Less than a year later, in February 2020, a 19-year-old fatally jumped from the sculpture.

Members of the local community board called on Related Companies to implement safety measures after the teen’s death, noting that installing "adequate" physical barriers could “prevent or substantially reduce suicides, especially impulsive ones.” 

By January 2021, however, two more people had died by suicide at the site, prompting Related Companies to temporarily close the structure. 

The installation reopened to the public in May of that year, with ramped up security and rules requiring visitors to walk through in groups of two or more.

Two months later, a 14-year-old boy jumped to his death, at which point a Hudson Yards spokesperson said it would close indefinitely.

On Friday, Hudson Yards’ spokesperson said the Vessel’s first two levels would remain fully open when it reopens, while parts of its upper levels — minus its top level — would be retrofitted with mesh barriers. 

Only the parts of the upper levels with added barriers will be accessible to the public, the spokesperson noted. 

The steel mesh was designed to be cut- and weather-resistant, and visitors will not be able to remove it, the spokesperson added.