‘Within hours of the Dublin portal going live, a ‘very drunk’ woman was led away by cops and arrested after ‘grinding’ her backside against the screen’
Since the project, which forms a 24/7 virtual bridge that livestreams life from across the Atlantic was activated on May 8, some have taken the opportunity to try and ruin it for everyone.
“Within hours of the Dublin portal going live, a ‘very drunk’ woman in her 40s was led away by cops and arrested after ‘grinding’ her backside against the screen,” The New York Post reported.
The Huffington Post added: “Some Dubliners used the portals to play video of the Twin Towers in flames on 9/11. One woman was even arrested for enjoying a 20-minute grinding session on the Irish installation.”
Last week, the circular, eight-foot-wide screen weighing 3.5 tonnes was erected in each city, broadcasting live 24/7 video between New York’s Flatiron District to Dublin’s O’Connell Street.
While some participants reacted to the installation in the spirit in which it was intended with synchronised dancing and holding up placards declaring their love for each city, others have hijacked the project, by flashing obscenities at the screen.
Social media has been flooded with videos of people flashing their bare bottoms or tops.
The portal
But it hasn’t just been on the Dublin side as OnlyFans model Ava Louise posted a video of herself lifting up her top and showing her breasts to the portal with her naked back facing the New York City crowd.
“There’s been a .1% interaction that includes some hateful messages, some nudity, and that ruins it for everyone,” James Mettham, President of the Flatiron Nomad Partnership told Fox5 News.
“So we’re working closely with the portal team and the City Council in Ireland to figure out ways to make sure we can continue to show this. The vast majority are really enjoying the fact that they can peer into the city like this.”
On Monday, The Guardian reported that the Dublin city council announced it would be making changes to the portal to combat the bad behaviour.
“While we cannot control all of these actions, we are implementing some technical solutions to address this and these will go live in the next 24 hours,” the council said.
“That same night, Dubliners saw that the portal had been turned off and was being patrolled by police,” Huffington Post added. “The screen came back online hours later, however, having reportedly suffered a ‘technical glitch’.”
Within hours of the portal opening, a closeup of a man’s phone displayed ‘RIP Popsmoke’, referring to American rapper Bashar Barakah Jackson, who was gunned down in a home invasion on February 19, 2020.
“The Irishman then switched the view to a video of the World Trade Center towers burning and billowing with black smoke during the 9/11 attack,” The Mail reports.
“Another video showed a woman being dragged away from the portal by police after grinding against the screen.
“Basically she was there for about 20 minutes very drunk and was slapping and grinding against the portal before guards stepped in,” the person who filmed it explained.
Another “Irishman waved at the dozens of Americans on the other side, before turning around and mooning them”.
“Another man held up a swastika on his phone, and plenty of middle fingers were exchanged on both sides.”
The Lithuanian artist and founder of The Portal, Benediktas Gylys, said portals are an invitation to “meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is – united and one”.
He provided the majority of the funds needed to build the first two portals in collaboration 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, Lublin.
