NBC10’s Siobhan McGirl reports Tuesday from Philadelphia’s LOVE Park after the “Portal” livestreaming device went live. Folks gathered to wave to other cities around the world.
Editor's note (Feb. 25, 2025): Joseph Callahan, director of Portals Organization, released this statement about the return of the Philadelphia Portal:
"The Philadelphia Portal is currently offline while our team performs routine maintenance and upgrades. We are excited to share that with the support of The Bean Foundation and World JAM Productions, the Philadelphia Portal is scheduled to be back online in early March, with several St. Patrick’s Day celebrations planned. We're thrilled to be able to continue bringing people together across the globe through the Portal."
The "Portal" to another part of the world that connects the City of Brotherly Love with several other cities around the world hasn't been working recently in LOVE Park.
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You might have noticed a tarp over top the large circular screen in the center of Philadelphia. Why is that?
Philly's Portal is getting freshened up.
When might Philly's 'Portal' to other parts of the world reopen?
"The Portal at LOVE Park will be active again by the end of this month," Portals partnership advisor Nicolas Klaus said.
If you visit the portal, it is currently wrapped up in a blue tarp with a message that reads:
"We apologize for our appearance, as the Portal in Love Park is temporarily down for repairs. We're working to have it back up and running as soon as possible, so stay tuned for updates. Much Love!"
The Portal launches
Officials with Portals.org, the 2026 Philadelphia committee and other civic leaders gathered on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, to cut the ribbon on the large circular livestreaming device.
"Hello Dublin," Michael Newmuis, the 2026 director for the City of Philadelphia, said at the ribbon cutting, which also featured a look into the action in Vilnius, Lithuania; and Lublin, Poland. The connection is set to rotate every 3-1/2 minutes, organizers said.
Back in October, Callahan said "soon we will be connected to Brazil, Ethiopia and other many parts of the world."
The Portal is hyping up Philly ahead of the yearlong Semiquincentennial in 2026.
What is the history of the Portals?
This Portal was previously hosted at the Flatiron Plaza in New York City.
"The love, the peace and the joy of recognizing we are all one and we are all the same," Callahan said once the device went live in Philly.
There have, however, been some bumps since the first Portal went live.
In 2021, the first Portals—created by Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur Benediktas Gylys—opened, connecting Vilnius to Lublin.
Then, in 2024, a live stream portal linking NYC and Dublin opened. The art installation garnered a lot of attention, but had to be temporarily shut down due to people's "inappropriate behavior."
Later, the NYC-Dublin Portals were opened again with new ways to prevent people from stepping on the portals, holding phones up to the cameras, flashing body parts, and doing drugs on camera.
And when it went live in Philly, a small crack could be seen on the face of Philly's Portal.
But, a recent social media post tells another story of a friendship made through the device between a Philadelphian and a person in Dublin who connected after meeting each other.
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