Dublin-NYC ‘Portal’ Limits Visible Hours After Flashing, Indecent Incidents

By

Dublin-NYC ‘Portal’ Limits Visible Hours After Flashing, Indecent Incidents
People pass a video "Portal" art installation connecting New York City and Dublin, Ireland via a 24/7 video livestream which sits temporarily shut down in the Flatiron Plaza on May 15, 2024 in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The portal between New York City and Dublin was installed in both cities earlier this month. The portals, built by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys, were temporarily closed last week due to "inappropriate behavior" such as flashing one's body parts or other indecent gestures and messages.

The BBC reported that some of the indecencies include "mooning," or someone flashing one's backside on the camera, and displaying expletives. There was even a Dublin user who displayed a video of the 9/11 attacks in New York.

During the period it was off, a message on the blank screen read, "Portal is asleep - back up soon."

Forbes reported that the portal has since been opened by Sunday (May 19).

Limited Viewing Hours

In response to the inappropriate incidents, the Dublin City Council decided to limit the viewing hours to prevent similar acts in the future.

Gylys appealed to the public last week to use the installment responsibly, as children could watch it on the other side.

Irish public broadcaster RTE reported that the stream would run daily from 06:00 to 16:00 in New York and from 11:00 to 21:00 in Dublin. The stream was previously running 24/7 before the indecencies.

The council said in a statement that the installment attracted tens of thousands of visitors and amassed almost two billion online impressions in its first few days of operation.

Meanwhile, fencing was also installed in front of the New York site, and more signage and spacing labels have been added to assist with crowd management and user experience.

Tags
US, Ireland, New york, New York City

© 2024 VCPOST.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Join the Conversation

Real Time Analytics