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Mysterious portal between New York to Dublin appears in Manhattan overnight

Mysterious portal between New York to Dublin appears in Manhattan overnight

These 'portals' aren't quite what they seem.

When you hear about mysterious portals linking two countries on the opposite sides of the world, you might initially think extraterrestrials were involved.

However, portals have opened up between Dublin and New York - but instead of alien activity, it's actually a fun public artpiece, linking the two cities via a livestream.

The Portals are two round screens, each with a camera above them, that have been linked together - each shows live video (with a slight delay) from the other at the same time.

It's pretty amazing, because it lets people wave to each other and see glimpses of life in a city a whole ocean away.

The two portals appeared on May 8 and very quickly went viral on social media.


They're the work of Benediktas Gylys, a Lithuanian artist who says he wanted to give a sense of connection between people living far apart.

"Portals are an invitation to meet people above borders and differences and to experience our world as it really is - united and one," Gylys said in a statement to CNN.

"The livestream provides a window between distant locations, allowing people to meet outside of their social circles and cultures, transcend geographical boundaries, and embrace the beauty of global interconnectedness."

There's no end date for the project right now, so in theory you could have quite a while to check either one out if you're nearby, although it might well end sometime in autumn.

If you're looking for either one, the Dublin portal is located on O’Connell Street, near the General Post Office (GPO) and the Spire; the New York portal, meanwhile, is in the Flatiron South Public Plaza.

Alexander Spatari / Getty
Alexander Spatari / Getty

Metro.co.uk reports the Lord Mayor of Dublin as saying: "The Portals project embodies this bringing together technology, engineering and art to bring communities from across the world closer together and to allow people to meet and connect outside of their social circles and cultures. We are delighted to connect Dublin with New York which we share a deep historical and cultural bond with."

People's videos of the installations have been doing the rounds on social media, and there have already been a fair few examples of people getting cheeky late at night.

The time difference means that people on their way home from the pub in Dublin might be a little more lubricated than those just leaving work in New York, after all - it's all part of the fun.

Featured Image Credit: PantiBliss/X / alikidkat/TikTok