Dublin portal bids farewell to New York as installation relocates to Philadelphia
People view the live stream portal between Dublin and New York. Picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire
The now world-famous Dublin City portal has bid farewell to New York as the installation officially relocates to the US city of Philadelphia.
The new portal in Philadelphia will be located in the city's JFK Plaza, also known as Love Park.
Its livestream will now alternate every three minutes between Dublin, Vilnius in Lithuania, and Lublin in Poland.
The controversial Dublin-New York portal was unveiled earlier this year on May 8.
When it first launched, it presented a real-time view of New York 24 hours a day and seven days a week, but following some "inappropriate behaviour", it was temporarily shut down.
The portal made headlines across the globe when one person in Dublin displayed an image of the 9/11 Twin Towers attack to the New York side.
There were also some flashing and grinding incidents, as well as Dubliners displaying swear words on their phone screens.
It was "reawakened" a few weeks later and new security measures were put in place. It now only broadcasts from 8am to 8pm daily.
The Dublin portal is currently positioned facing the capital's main street, O'Connell Street, and before its relocation to Philadelphia, the New York portal was positioned at the Flatiron Plaza in Manhattan.
Since opening, the portal has attracted thousands of visitors and billions of online impressions.
Extra locations are expected to be added in the coming weeks, and the Dublin installation which was due to only operate until the end of October, has been extended until January 31, 2025.
Dublin City Council has welcomed the relocation of the portal to Philadelphia, and those on the ground in Philly are excited too.
Portals team member, Joseph Callahan said: “As a proud Philadelphia native, I’m excited to introduce the Portal to a city that thrives on creativity and shared experiences.
Back in August, Cork singer Cian Ducrot became the first ever artist to give a multi-city portal performance.
The I'll Be Waiting star performed a pop-up concert in Dublin joined by a flash mob choir at the installation.
Fans were only given a 30-minute alert before the performance took place, however the singer had been posting hints about the show on his social media pages.
It was an official performance in conjunction with the Portals teams and was livestreamed in New York, Lithuania and Poland.
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