Crowds coordinated jumps and dance moves with people in Dublin Tuesday morning at LOVE Park.
The “Portal,” which generated significant internet buzz when onlookers saw it being installed over the weekend, has been turned on, connecting Philadelphia with the Irish capital, Lublin, Poland and Vilnius, Lithuania.
Plans are underway to construct similar structures, equipped with a camera and circular screen, in Brazil and Ethiopia, according to representatives from Portals.org, the organization associated with the viral project.
The LOVE Park Portal rotates between the cities at 3-minute intervals. Passersby in the different cities where devices are installed can wave and gesture to those on the other side or hold up signs, though no audio is transmitted.
Portals are designed to be permanent, and the livestream typically operates 24/7; however, that policy was suspended in May, after someone in New York flashed the camera and a Dublin pedestrian appeared to mock the 9/11 attacks.
Following those incidents, the Dublin-New York Portal was turned off for a few days, and, when it reopened, fencing was installed.
Crews relocated the New York Portal, which had been set up near the Flatiron Building in Manhattan earlier this year, to Center City. During that process, a crack opened up on the screen. No one seemed bothered by the imperfection Tuesday as they excitedly interacted with their new overseas friends.
The Portal project the brainchild of Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur Benediktas Gylys, and the aim is to build a “bridge to a united planet,” according to the organization’s website.
For Philadelphia, part of the appeal is to welcome an international audience ahead of 2026, when the region will host World Cup matches, ceremonies honoring the country’s 250th anniversary and other events, Michael Neimus, the city official tasked with coordinating the celebrations, told Metro.
And the attraction arrived at no cost to the city, Neimus said. A news release credited the New York-based Flatiron NoMad Partnership, Ironworkers Local Union 405, Operating Engineers Local 542 and Rebel Trucking and Rigging.
