Dublin Portal with New York reopens with reduced hours and blurring technology

The two-way livestream installation was temporarily suspended just days after it debuted due to “inappropriate behaviour” that included incidents of nudity.

It broadcasts between North Earl Street in the city centre to the Flatiron South Public Plaza at Broadway, Fifth Avenue in New York.

The livestream restarted at 2pm on Sunday following the pause in operation, with new measures in place that will blur the camera if the sculpture is stepped on and help with crowd management.

Fencing has been installed in front of the New York portal and on-site security will continue there.

It will operate on reduced hours for the coming weeks and the livestream will run daily from 11am until 9pm in Dublin and 6am to 4pm in New York.

Organisers said the “overwhelming majority” of visitors have “experienced the sense of joy and connectedness that these works of public art invite people to have”.

Steps have now been taken to ensure the installation is not “touched or stepped upon” and new measures will help “limit instances of people stepping on the portal and holding phones up to the camera lens”.

If the camera is obstructed, the livestream will blur in both Dublin and New York.

“The team will continue making updates as needed to ensure that everyone can continue to enjoy the Portal,” a spokesperson said in a joint statement from Dublin City Council, Portals.org and the Flatiron NoMad Partnership.

“The New York site will continue to have on-site security during all hours of operation, as it has had since the Portal debuted,” they added.

“Additionally, fencing has been installed in front of the New York Portal and more signage and spacing decals have been added to assist with crowd management and guide visitors to the optimal spots for interacting with the Portal.

“For the Dublin site, physical design features are being implemented to assist with crowd management.”