Philadelphia’s Portal is offline.
With its screen blank, the sculptural art installation that usually connects people in different cities around the world was akin to a void Friday afternoon, idling in the City Hall courtyard as the magic of Center City’s Christmas Village swirled around it.
It’s unclear exactly how long the Portal has been out of commission; according to city spokesperson Leah Uko, a technical issue “has disrupted the live stream in recent weeks,” and Portal officials expect a fix next week. The operators of the Portal did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.
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Passersby Friday lamented the blackout.
“Turn the Portal back on, we demand it,” one onlooker said.
Another scoffed, “It must be nighttime there.”
Yonas Legesse, 22, and Martina Gebrail, 24, trekked more than two hours from Secaucus, N.J., and Jersey City, respectively, in hopes of seeing the famous Portal.
“We were definitely gonna stop here, go wave at some people, and now it’s off,” Legesse said. “It kind of hurts.”
Gebrail was amazed by the technology she saw on TikTok: The 3.5-ton circular video screen beams real-time, 24-hour, unfiltered livestreams from and to places like Dublin, Ireland; Vilnius, Lithuania; and Lublin, Poland.
» READ MORE: Philly’s Portal is moving after vandalism, a concern organizers haven’t seen elsewhere
The Portal debuted last October at LOVE Park but was moved to its home at City Hall this spring after at least two incidents of vandalism. Thieves cut out a section of copper wire from the installation in February, and March high winds blew off a tarp, revealing damage believed to be caused by rocks. Of the half a dozen Portal locations globally, Philly — known for downing light poles and murdering robots — is the only location to experience such defacement, Portal officials have said.
Despite their disappointment, Legesse and Gebrail said they would come back to see an operative Portal. It’s expected to stay in Philadelphia through the country’s Semiquincentennial celebration in 2026.
“You guys owe us one,” Legesse said.