New ‘let us all down’ verdict on Dublin-New York portal’s ‘inappropriate’ acts after Only Fans model’s bold stunt promise

The controversial gateway to New York should not be moved out of Dublin city center despite a series of incidents of flashing and inappropriate behaviour, Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe has said.

The 24/7 live streaming project between Dublin and New York has been temporarily shut down as authorities try to find ways to prevent inappropriate behavior at the attraction.

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In Dublin, a woman was arrested over a public order incident on the portal, while other incidents saw people viewing or displaying images of the 9/11 disaster in New York.

Real-time two-way transmission between the two cities invites people from different cultures to meet across borders as part of an innovative artistic project.

The Dublin portal was deactivated at 10pm on Tuesday, but live streaming is expected to resume later this week.

It is located on North Earl Street, facing O’Connell Street, and captures the city’s famous Spire and GPO building.

While in New York City, it’s at the Flatiron South Public Plaza on Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street.

Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe said the inappropriate behavior was “having an impact” – although only small numbers of visitors were involved on both sides.

However, he said the direct link with New York should remain in the capital as a tourist attraction.

He said: “I was delighted to see the portal located on the main street of my capital.

“I feel that the very small number of people involved in inappropriate behavior has let us all down.

“But you only have to look at the number of people who are coming to Dublin at the moment to spend their summer holidays here to know that Dublin’s standing in the eyes of the rest of the world is still very, very high.

“I hope the portal doesn’t just stay in Dublin, but stays where it is.

“And I hope that the small number of people who are letting the rest of us down with this behavior realize the impact it is having and that we can look for ways, from a technological perspective, to decrease this type of behavior.

“That said, I think anyone who was on the other side of the portal very early in the morning or very late at night – not everyone always behaves the way they would like.

“I think it was a very interesting innovation. It is really interesting to see the number of people accessing the portal and I am sure that for the vast majority of people it was good to see and participate.”

‘UNSATISFACTORY’

Dublin City Council said in a statement on Tuesday that the portals would be shut down to investigate “possible technical solutions to inappropriate behavior by a small minority of people”.

They said: “Unfortunately the preferred solution, which would have involved blurring, was not satisfactory.

“As a result, the portal will be turned off at 10pm tonight and the Portals.org team has told us they expect it to be turned back on later this week.

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“We are delighted with the number of people who have taken advantage of the portal since it was launched last week.”

They also said that 24/7 art has become a global phenomenon and “it is important to note that the overwhelming majority of people interacting with the Dublin portal behaved appropriately”.

And Lithuanian businessman and portal founder Benediktas Gylys said there should be limits as children could watch the live broadcast on the other side of the screen.

He said: “It’s definitely about us humans creating the artwork together, but we need to make sure it’s also family-friendly.

“I think everyone should think about a seven-year-old who is in New York, who wants to experience it and who wants to connect with Dublin and wave to the people there.

“So that was my only request to the lovely people of Ireland.”

‘REALLY FUNNY’

OnlyFans model Ava Louise claimed she was behind the reason portals were shut down over the weekend after flashing her breasts in New York City.

She exclusively told The Irish Sun: “Everyone who was there thought it was really funny.

“Everyone on the New York side loved it, everyone on the Dublin side took out their phones and filmed it.

“Everyone had a smile on their face, they seemed to be really enjoying it.”

Barricades were placed around the portal after the following incident.

A security guard who works on a rotational basis at the site told RTÉ that “anything can happen” in New York.

He said: “As a New Yorker, I feel very disrespected. It’s like putting alcohol on a wound, because there are people here still recovering from 9/11.”

Portals.org, the company behind the installation, said in a statement that its goal is to “open a window between distant places and cultures to interact freely with each other.”

“We encourage people to be respectful, and from our position as observers we see that the overwhelming majority of experiences are positive.”

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