Five hours in the life of the new Philly Portal
- by Philadelphia Inquirer
- Oct 24, 2024
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Oct. 24, 2024, 1:00 p.m. ET
Like many, when I heard Philly was getting a Portal, the interactive art installation that looks like the teleportation device from Stargate and connects people around the world through video, I was both excited and terrified.
We do deserve nice things here, despite what some might say, and people in the cities where Portals already exist â Dublin, Ireland; Lublin, Poland; and Vilnius, Lithuania â deserve to meet and interact with us, and vice versa.
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That being said, Philadelphians are an extremely unserious people. Itâs one of our best qualities, but it can also lead to some very questionable shenanigans, like the beheading of hitchBOT, the celebratory climbing of greased poles, and dumpster pool parties.
When a small crack appeared in the newly-installed Portal, a spokesperson literally had to go on record to say we didnât do it because everyone was so sure we did (it apparently happened in transit).
I decided to spend five hours at the Portal in LOVE Park on Wednesday, its second day in operation, to get a sense of not just how a few Philadelphians interacted with it, but how many did over a long period of time, and how residents and visitors in the other cities reacted to us.
The timeline 9:55 a.m.
I arrive at the Portal. There are 14 people here including a guy in a âGrease them polesâ shirt. Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Ranger Bob Sullivan tells us weâre looking at Ireland and we have to make them wave by waving first.
9:59 a.m.
âThe Wednesday Walking Groupâ from CityView Condominiums stops by to check out the Portal after visiting Rodeph Shalom. Member Martha Schrenk, 64, points out that thereâs a younger man looking at us from Poland and says: âYou should wave at him! They donât want to look at me.â (Oh, Martha!) A native New Yorker, Schrenk said sheâs embarrassed they took the Portal away from her hometown because people were inappropriate. âItâs fabulous here,â she says, when I ask her what she thinks of Philly. âI hope no more New Yorkers come though.â
10:06 a.m.
I turn around and see four people in red pointy caps that say âDUNCEâ on them in large letters. Turns out, they work for a whiskey company called Dunce. âWe thought itâd be fun to come out with these Dunce caps and see the reaction of the people on the other side,â Lee Noble, brand ambassador, tells me. âYou didnât bring a bottle of whiskey?â I ask. âOh, thereâs bottle in my bag,â he says.
A kid on a scooter in Lithuania flips us off.
10:08 a.m.
âIt looks cold in Poland,â someone says. âAt least they donât look any happier than us.â
10:15 a.m.
Someone in Lithuania does jumping jacks for us then comes up to the camera to challenge someone to rock, paper, scissors.
10:18 a.m.
Sullivan points out a guy in the center of the feed from Ireland: âHe was out here all day yesterday. Heâll do whatever you do.â Since we donât know this Irish ladâs name I will call him Connor. Someone jumps, Connor jumps. Someone makes a heart, Connor makes heart, when someone dances, Connor dances. Someone blows a kiss, Connor blows a kiss. Connor stays at the Dublin Portal for hours, pandering to us. When the screen changes, someone in Philly yells: âNo! I liked him.â
10:22 a.m.
A man in Lithuania approaches the Portal and unfolds a piece of paper. It reads âGO BIRDS.â We all freak out and scream. This is amazing!
10:32 a.m.
A little girl in Poland walking with her grandma keeps turning around to wave hi to us.
10:35 a.m.
A man in Lithuania jumps and clicks his heels for us like heâs Gene Kelly. A man in Philly holds up his baby to the Portal.
10:38 a.m.
âWhere is that?â a woman asks me. I tell her itâs Lithuania. âWhere the hell is that?â she asks.
10:40 a.m.
A young man in Philly breaks it down with some killer dance moves. The crowd in Dublin goes wild.
10:42 a.m.
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