Hudson Yards Adorned With Art to Last Beyond `Anyone's Lifetime'

  • Frank Stella, Jaume Plensa are creating works to adorn lobbies
  • Ross sees sculpture as ‘something that’s a lot more powerful’
Midtown Manhattan's Hudson Yards Art

Billionaire Stephen Ross didn’t hire an adviser to select artists for the nation’s largest private development. He made the call himself.

The Related Cos. chairman, whose $25 billion Hudson Yards will be officially inaugurated in March, is filling his giant blank canvas by tapping artists including Frank Stella, Jaume Plensa and Joel Shapiro to create large-scale sculptures that will adorn New York’s newest skyscrapers. The biggest and most expensive piece is Thomas Heatherwick’s $150 million "Vessel” -- a 16-story latticework with 2,500 individual steps and 80 landings.