New York-Dublin video portal reopens with ‘bad behaviour’ fix

DUBLIN: A live video portal linking New York with Dublin has reopened after being fitted with sensors that organisers hope will block out inappropriate behaviour by passers-by - including exposing body parts - that led to its shut-down a week ago.

The Portal sculpture opened earlier this month linking a street in New York’s Flatiron district to central Dublin. A large circular screen at each location displays a live video feed from the other.

Within days of its opening, some late-night revellers in Dublin took to exposing body parts and holding up pornographic images to the camera. At least one New York woman exposed her breasts.

“There is only a handful of people that have misbehaved,” a programme manager for Dublin City Council Culture Company Nollaig Fahy told RTE radio. “Unfortunately, that’s going to happen in the public realm.”

In a bid to block “bad behaviour”, a system of sensors has been added to blur the portal at both ends if people get too close to the camera, Fahy said.

The portal, whose feed was restored on Monday, will operate with limited hours and with physical barriers at both locations to stop people from getting too close, Dublin City Council said in a statement.