NEW YORK — A city pond where goldfish swam beneath a leaking New York City fire hydrant has been replaced with a new makeshift aquarium, days after the city unceremoniously paved over the old one for safety reasons .
Industrious Brooklynites took waterproof siding, bath tiles, concrete blocks and gravel and fashioned a new urban pond in a tree bed next to the now-repaired fire hydrant.
On Friday afternoon, about 40 goldfish were darting around the new surroundings, which were built Wednesday and feature faux plants, rocks and other brightly colored aquarium decorations.
Pedro Zambrana, a 29-year-old visiting Barcelona resident, was among dozens of people who stopped to watch and take photos.
“It’s so cool,” he said, adding that a visit to the landmark in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood was high on his itinerary for his weeklong stay in the city.
Devang Shah, one of the local residents who helps manage the pond, said volunteers hope to soon equip the aquarium with a solar-powered filtration system to replace the current, battery-powered one.
They also need to get a heating system before winter sets in and consider setting up live streaming so their fans around the world can tune in, he said.
The so-called Bed-Stuy Aquarium is viewable on Google Maps and has its own Instagram and TikTok accounts, run by Shah and other residents.
But the 44-year-old architect lamented that the aquarium was easier to manage because of the leaking fire hydrant. The constant flow from the hydrant had provided a constant source of fresh water, so a filter system wasn’t really necessary, he explained.
“They seemed happier there,” Shah said, pointing to the fire hydrant surrounded by a now-pristine concrete slab.
Passersby watched intently as he sprinkled fish food into the water, removed falling leaves and took water quality measurements.
Shah said it was the fourth incarnation of a guerrilla pond, which originally formed when the leaking fire hydrant dug a shallow pool in broken concrete, prompting the residents to fill it with store-bought goldfish.
People concerned for the welfare of the fish staged a “rescue” over the summer, but resolute locals restocked the pool and set up surveillance.
The site became even more elaborate, with benches, chairs and painted decorations.
There’s even a sign designed to look like an official New York City Parks Department plaque affixed to the tree that reads “BEDSTUY AQUARIUM.”
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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
