Over the Weekend I was in NYC to celebrate my friend Thanuja Hamilton’s birthday, happy official birthday girl tomorrow, the first day of Spring. While there I stopped by the newly opened Hudson Yards which is the new miracle on 34th Street, cross street 10th. It’s a new housing, office, shopping mall, museum, park complex. It’s magnificent, opulent, with lots of public space for tourists and locals to enjoy.

Hudson Yards is here after a dozen years of planning and $16 billion of construction — and Manhattan won’t be the same. The first half of a 27-acre, $28 billion, something-for-everyone mini-city between 10th and 11th avenues in the lower West 30s. (NY Post)

After walking through the beautiful mall, Mike and I headed to the biggest tourist attraction since the Statue of Liberty, The Vessel. The Vessel, designed by Thomas Heatherwick with a structural steel frame covered by a polished copper-color cladding, is one of the can’t-miss sights, with its series of 154 intricately interconnected flights of stairs (2,500 individual steps). You have to get a free timed ticket by either ordering online or picking up on site.

The entire experience is exhilarating, as well as a lot of selfie moments.

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There’s even a selfie station at the bottom of The Vessel, where you put down your phone, set the time and pose for a photo.

There is an elevator, but it strictly for ADA folks,

although I’m sure if your experiencing vertigo at the top they’ll take you down. I can’t wait to go back to see the sunset.

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In a few months, the highest observation deck in New York City will be opening at Hudson Yards. At 1100 feet it is 50 feet higher than the former highest observation deck, the Empire State Building. The only bummer part for me is it only faces East, so the actual sunset won’t be able to be seen, but that doesn’t mean magical light won’t still dance off the skyline of New York City. By the way, this will be the first observation deck in Manhattan with an exhilarating glass floor. My heart is racing already. No word on the fee for this excitement yet. One floor above the observation deck on the 101th floor will be a 10,000-square-foot bar, restaurant and event space, with 360 degree views for miles. For more info on the properties click here.