Irish pranksters are using the ‘portal’ between Manhattan and Dublin to troll New Yorkers with 9/11 videos and nudity.
The futuristic sculpture forms a 24/7 virtual bridge that livestreams life across the Atlantic Ocean.
The New York City Portal is located in front of the Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue and Dublin’s on O’Connell Street, across from the GPO and the Spire.
When The Portal was activated on May 8, crowds from both countries gathered with signs reading “Hello from New York” and “Welcome to Dublin.”
But it didn’t take long for those with a different sense of humor to hijack the project’s wholesome intentions.
Irish pranksters use Manhattan-Dublin ‘portal’ to dupe New Yorkers with 9/11 videos and nudity
An Irishman switched to a video of the World Trade Center towers burning and billowing black smoke during the September 11 attack
Social media is flooded with videos of hooligans baring their behinds to transatlantic strangers – or much worse.
The usual view of people waving from Ireland’s historic capital was interrupted by a close-up of a man’s phone within hours of the portal’s opening.
First it said ‘RIP Popsmoke’, referring to American rapper Bashar Barakah Jackson, who was shot during a home invasion on February 19, 2020.
Five men stormed Jackson’s Los Angeles home demanding jewelry and shot him three times with a Beretta M92 when he tried to fight them.
The Irishman then switched to a video of the World Trade Center towers burning and billowing black smoke during the September 11 attack.
Another video showed a woman being dragged away from the portal by police after she rubbed against the screen.
Another video showed a woman being dragged away from the portal by police after she rubbed against the screen
“Actually, she was there very drunk for about 20 minutes, hitting and grinding on the portal before the guards came in,” the person who filmed it explained.
Less extreme was an Irishman who waved to the dozens of Americans on the other side before turning and shouting at them.
Another man held up a swastika on his phone and many middle fingers were exchanged on both sides.
The displays will be active until the fall, but an official end date has not yet been announced.
“Portals are an invitation to meet people across borders and differences and experience our world as it really is: united and one,” says Benediktas Gylys, a Lithuanian artist and founder of The Portal.
Mayor of Dublin Daithí De Róiste unveiled the portal in Dublin (pictured) and showed people in New York City
The Portal provides an unfiltered livestream view from O’Connell Street in Dublin to the Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan
“The livestream provides a window between distant locations, allowing people to meet beyond their social circles and cultures, transcend geographic boundaries and embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness.”
Mayor of Dublin Daithí De Róiste unveiled the portal in Dublin, which included a performance by The Liberties Majorettes as a nod to New York.
In the coming months, the two cities will share planned programming to celebrate New York Design Week and other cultural performances that have not yet been released.
“Two great global cities, connected in real time and in space,” said Ya-Ting Liu, New York City’s Chief Public Realm Officer, adding, “You don’t see that every day!”
“We are so excited that the portal is a public, interactive art installation that showcases the vibrancy of our city streets and provides a new point for human connection between New Yorkers and Dubliners.
The Portal was first created in 2021 by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys, who also mainly financed it. Pictured: The Dublin Portal before it was unveiled today
The portal was first unveiled in 2021 by the Benefiktas Gylys Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to uniting countries and has already set up similar portals in Lithuania and Poland.
“One of my main objectives as mayor is to make the city more inclusive,” said De Róiste, who announced that Dublin’s Portal will also connect to the other Portal locations from July.
‘I would encourage Dubliners and visitors to the city to interact with the sculpture and show an Irish welcome and friendliness to cities around the world.’
The Portal presents a new kind of sculpture that uses science and technology to connect people from all over the world and is a major focus for the Simons Foundation.
It collaborated with Dublin, Flatiron NoMad, NYC DOT Art, portals.org and the EU Capital of Smart Tourism to bring The Portal to life.
De Róiste announced that the Dublin portal will also connect to the other Portal locations in Poland and Lithuania from July.
Gylys first thought about the portal in 2016 when a spiritual experience led him to see the planet through a different lens and he developed a need to “counter polarizing ideas” and find a way for people from different cultures to communicate .
“Public spaces are what make New York City so vibrant and exciting,” said David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation.
‘From music to art: the use of public space strengthens the collective voice of our city. We want to ensure that science and technology remain part of that voice.’
Gylys first thought of the concept in 2016 when a spiritual experience led him to view the planet through a different lens and he developed a need to “counter polarizing ideas” and find a way for people from different cultures to communicate .
He provided the majority of the funds needed to build the first two portals, working with a team from VilniusTech University in Lithuania.
The first two portals opened in May 2021 in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and in the Polish city of Lublin.
