It was supposed to bring two cities closer together, but the Dublin-New York portal has been closed down temporarily after reports of “inappropriate behaviour”.
Sculptures had been placed in both cities, featuring live streams that allowed residents of one place to see the other. The innovative idea allowed grandmothers to see their grandchildren, performances of Irish jigs were beamed across the Atlantic and there was even a proposal.
But in less wholesome behaviour, New Yorkers and Dubliners were seen flashing their rear ends at each other, an OnlyFans model bared her breasts and one Dubliner even taunted the Americans with images of the Twin Towers on 9/11.
Another woman was escorted away by Irish police after she was seen grinding against the portal itself as others made rude gestures at each other.
In a statement, a spokesman for Dublin City Council said: “The overwhelming majority of interactions are positive.
“The Portal offers a window to other cities and is connecting people and cultures in a unique manner – what we are seeing between Dublin and NY is reflective of a wider narrative of cultural behaviour. Unfortunately, we have also been witnessing a very small minority of people engaged in inappropriate behaviour, which has been amplified through social media.
“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.
“We will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days with our partners in New York to ensure that Portals continue to deliver a positive experience for both cities and the world.”
The Portals Organisation said: “As Portals Organisation, we do not intend to suggest people to interact with Portals in any particular way – our goal is to open a window between far away places and cultures that allows people to interact freely with one another.
“We encourage people to be respectful and from our position as observers, we see that the absolute majority of experiences is on the bright side.”
