Sidewalk ‘Portal’ linking NYC and Dublin by livestream temporarily shutting down after lewd antics

(14 May 2024)
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RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York - 14 May 2024
1. Various of people waving and posing in front of "The Portal," an art installation which shows a livestream feed through another identical installation in Dublin, Ireland
2. Mid of "The Portal" screen
3. Various of people waving and posing while on the phone in front of screen
STORYLINE:
The video screen “Portal” that let people in New York and Dublin peer into life on the other side of the pond in real time has been a source of whimsical delight for sidewalk crowds in the two cities, but also a magnet for boorish and lewd behavior that’s prompted officials to hit pause for now.

The public art installation known as “The Portal” made its North American debut in the two cities on May 8, with a circular screen set up below New York City’s iconic Flatiron Building and a companion screen on Dublin’s main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street, with city landmarks including the Spire in the backdrop.

Exhibit organizers touted the interactive display as a unique way to “embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness.”

“Portals are an invitation to meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is—united and one,” Benediktas Gylys, the Lithuanian artist who conceived the installation, said at the time the portals were unveiled simultaneously to fanfare.

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