David: Even though I knew Amanda was going there specifically to guide me through the portal, when she finally appeared on screen, I felt like I was part of the crowd, like I belonged there. I found myself waving like an idiot, while simultaneously messaging Amanda on Slack to tell her I was seeing her. The mysterious powers of the Portal were clearly working on me.
The portal also has the potential to make new real-life connections. While greeting his brother in New York, a Dublin man noticed a woman waving back from New York. Looking around, he saw the woman’s friend behind him. On both sides of the Atlantic, brothers and friends began chatting, laughing and promising to stay in touch. After the friends left and the brothers signed off with a wave, they promised to meet at the Portal later that day.
Almond : The portal has attracted New Yorkers and tourists alike. Madison Reiger, 28, and Lauren Levitt, 23, told me they came over on their lunch break from their nearby office. They raised their hands in a heart shape, matching the other side’s gestures. They said they found it a great way to connect with people from far away and enjoyed the positivity of the crowd.
David: Of the hundreds of people who showed up at the gate during the hours I was there, many of them were Americans vacationing in Ireland, perhaps eager to see that all was well back home. Kiino Villand, a photographer from Los Angeles, was in Dublin to visit his daughter. He felt the experience was much greater than just watching a video of someone in New York. “Even though it’s virtual, you’re getting a tactile experience in person,” Villain said. “I like how big it is and how it’s shaped like a circle, like we’re going to go through the portal.”
Almond : There was something very sweet and healthy about this meeting. Ali Zaib, 22, came from the New Jersey suburbs to see the gate for the second time and got lucky on Tuesday because it was closed last week. Zaib stayed for over half an hour, loving the gate, greeting people on the other side and hoisting one of the signs provided showing his love for Dublin. “It’s so cool, I wish we could have more of this in a different part of New York,” Zaib told me, to connect the city to other parts of the world.
More portals are exactly the plan. “For us, the main goal is to have as many portals open as possible around the world,” says Gylys. “The biggest misunderstanding about portals is that they are intended to connect two cities. This is not the case. The portals are a network of sculptures that connect to each other via a constantly rotating flow between the various large and small cities on planet Earth.
Gylys revealed that later this summer, if not closed again, the New York and Dublin portals will change their feeds to connect to Vilnius in Lithuania and Lublin in Poland. While the New York and Dublin sites now have restricted opening hours due to “inappropriate behavior”, the other two portals operate 24/7.
Almond : Based on Tuesday’s crowds in New York, there may be an appetite for more portals in the city. And if people stay true to their behavior, portals might just be a healthy way to connect.
