Mysterious portal connecting New York to Dublin surfaces in Manhattan
A portal has opened in Dublin and New York, allowing people more than 3,000 miles away to see and communicate with each other in real time.
The futuristic sculpture, collectively called ‘The Portal’, forms a 24/7 virtual bridge that livestreams life across the Atlantic Ocean.
The New York City Portal is located in front of the Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue and Dubliners can find their local portal on O’Connell Street, opposite the GPO and the Spire.
Mayor of Dublin Daithí De Róiste unveiled the portal in Dublin (pictured) and showed people in New York City
The Portal will remain open from May 8 through the fall and will feature cultural programs from both cities
The Portal provides an unfiltered livestream view from O’Connell Street in Dublin to the Flatiron Building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan
When The Portal was activated on May 8, crowds from both countries gathered with signs reading “Hello from New York” and “Welcome to Dublin.”
The displays will be operational until the fall, but an official completion date has not yet been announced.
“Portals are an invitation to meet people across borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is: united and one,” says Benediktas Gylys, a Lithuanian artist and founder of The Portal.
“The livestream provides a window between distant locations, allowing people to meet beyond their social circles and cultures, transcend geographic boundaries and embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness.”
Mayor of Dublin Daithí De Róiste unveiled the portal in Dublin, which included a performance by The Liberties Majorettes as a nod to New York.
In the coming months, the two cities will share planned programming to celebrate New York Design Week and other cultural performances that have not yet been released.
“Two great global cities, connected in real time and in space,” said Ya-Ting Liu, New York City’s Chief Public Realm Officer, adding, “You don’t see that every day!”
“We are so excited that the portal is a public, interactive art installation that showcases the vibrancy of our city streets and provides a new point for human connection between New Yorkers and Dubliners.
The portal was first unveiled in 2021 by the Benefiktas Gylys Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to uniting countries and has already set up similar portals in Lithuania and Poland.
The Portal was first created in 2021 by Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys, who also mainly financed it. Pictured: The Dublin Portal before it was unveiled today
De Róiste announced that the Dublin portal will also connect to the other Portal locations in Poland and Lithuania from July.
Gylys first thought about the portal in 2016 when a spiritual experience led him to see the planet through a different lens and he developed a need to “counter polarizing ideas” and find a way for people from different cultures to communicate .
“One of my main objectives as mayor is to make the city more inclusive,” said De Róiste, who announced that Dublin’s Portal will also connect to the other Portal locations from July.
‘I would encourage Dubliners and visitors to the city to interact with the sculpture and show an Irish welcome and friendliness to cities around the world.’
The Portal presents a new kind of sculpture that uses science and technology to connect people from around the world and is a major focus for the Simons Foundation, which collaborated with Dublin, Flatiron NoMad, NYC DOT Art, portals.org and the EU Capital of Smart Tourism to bring the portal to life.
“Public spaces are what make New York City so vibrant and exciting,” said David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation.
‘From music to art: the use of public space strengthens the collective voice of our city. We want to ensure that science and technology remain part of that voice.’
Gylys first thought of the concept in 2016 when a spiritual experience led him to view the planet through a different lens and he developed a need to “counter polarizing ideas” and find a way for people from different cultures to communicate .
He provided the majority of the funds needed to build the first two portals, working with a team from VilniusTech University in Lithuania.
The first two portals opened in May 2021 in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and in the Polish city of Lublin.