Buying a stairway to heaven

At the far edge of Manhattan’s West Side, there’s a new sculpture that looks like shawarma. Or a honeycomb, or a wastebasket, or a jungle gym. Like a cloud passing through the sky, it takes a different shape for each person who looks up.

The Vessel, a 15-story matrix and more than 150 flights of stairs, is New York City’s latest monument to urban planning. With 80 viewing platforms, the art piece is meant to be the aesthetic anchor of the burgeoning Hudson Yards district and an opportunity for tourists and locals to see Manhattan from 150 feet up. Its opening has, however, provoked concern.