The Portal between Dublin, NYC reopens after ‘inappropriate behavior’
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – The Portal, New York City’s virtual window into Dublin, is back online Sunday after “bad behavior” shut the installation down.
Now, the Portal will only be open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. – a paring back of the livestream on Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street that was initially on 24/7, according to organizers with Portals.org, Dublin City Council and the Flatiron NoMad Partnership.
Organizers have also installed a failsafe that blurs the livestream if individuals step on the Portal and obstruct the camera. In New York, on-site security will monitor the Portal during its open hours, and fencing has been installed for crowd management.
“The Portal connecting New York City and Dublin has reawakened,” organizers said in a statement. “In less than a week of operation, the Portal has attracted tens of thousands of visitors and garnered nearly two billion online impressions.”
The portal opened on May 8 and by May 14 its circular screen went dark thanks to “inappropriate behavior,” organizers said. Videos posted to social media show people flashing the Portal and holding up images on their phones, like the Twin Towers on 9/11.
“The overwhelming majority of people who have visited the Portal sculptures have experienced the sense of joy and connectedness that these works of public art invite people to have,” organizers said.