Topline
A viral video “portal” connecting New York City with Irish capital Dublin has reopened after an almost week-long closure sparked by onlookers who flashed the camera, held inappropriate pictures up to the portal and made other wild gestures, leading the Dublin City Council to temporarily close the attraction.
The Dublin City Council said it would make changes following "inappropriate" behavior at the portal ... [+]
Key Facts
The New York-Dublin portal, which functions like a continuous live video call between cameras stationed in the two cities, opened earlier this month, allowing onlookers to watch and interact with passersby from across the Atlantic Ocean.
But for every wholesome video depicting participants meeting friends or holding friendly signs into the portal, even more depicting bizarre behavior went hugely viral on social media—like some onlookers who appeared to take drugs in front of the camera.
Multiple instances of people flashing the portal—including one man who was captured on video lowering his pants, and OnlyFans model and social media personality Ava Louise, who lifted her shirt—went viral on social media.
In a video liked more than 500,000 times on X, formerly known as Twitter, onlookers on the Dublin side held a phone up to the camera with the message “RIP POP SMOKE”—a reference to the rapper who was shot and killed in 2020—and seconds later, another onlooker held up a photo of the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
Within hours of the Dublin portal going live, Irish outlet Limerick Leader reported a woman was arrested and escorted away from the portal by police, though the report did not specify a reason (An onlooker who claimed to have recorded video of the incident said in an Instagram comment section the woman was dancing provocatively on the portal).
News Peg
The portal reopened Sunday after it was temporarily shut down Monday evening. The Dublin City Council vowed to make unspecified changes to the portal upon its closure, and said at the time it would “implement some technical solutions.” The organizers implemented a “proximity-based solution," NBC News reported Sunday, adding fencing and spacing decals that, if crossed, will blur the livestream on both sides.
Big Number
500 million. That's how many people visited the portal in the first five days it was open, Portals.org founder Benediktas Gylys told NBC.
Contra
Not all of the viral videos about the New York-Dublin portal are about inappropriate behavior: One New York-based woman garnered nearly 1 million views on a TikTok video depicting herself and her Irish friend meeting up through the portal, each holding up heart signs. Another TikTok user garnered more than 4 million likes on a video in which the New York and Dublin onlookers wave at each other. Another user captured a marriage proposal between the two portals on a TikTok video.
Tangent
The portal has also been the subject of memes, with some social media users editing in scenes from shows and films—like The Sopranos or The Simpsons—into the center of the portal. Other social media users have imagined where else portals should be stationed, with one suggesting portals connecting Toronto and Compton—the hometowns of rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar, who have been embroiled in a highly publicized rap beef this month. “We should build a philly/dallas portal outside each of their NFL stadiums next,” another user posted, referring to the football rivalry between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.
Key Background
The Dublin-New York portal is the second of its kind, following a portal that opened in May 2021 connecting Vilnius, Lithuania with Lublin, Poland. The project was founded by Benediktas Gylys, a Lithuanian investor and artist, who called the portals a “bridge that unifies and an invitation to rise above prejudices and disagreements.” The Dublin-New York portal opened on May 8, and the connection between the two cities is expected to last until autumn, according to the Dublin City Council. The Dublin location will also connect to other cities in Brazil, Poland and Lithuania at a later date, and is set to feature cultural programming. The New York portal is located near the Flatiron Building, while the Dublin portal is situated near O’Connell Street, a major street in the city.
Further Reading
‘OnlyFans, drugs and 9/11 taunts’ Dublin to New York portal taken offline (The Independent)
Smiles, waves and flashed body parts: video portal links Dublin and New York (The Guardian)
