A viral community aquarium next to a fire hydrant in Brooklyn now serves as a forlorn makeshift graveyard for its fishy occupants, after the project was shut down by the New York City Fire Department.
The site, a small puddle containing the fish in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, attracted dozens of visitors from across the city and the state. Now, dried up and empty, the surrounding Halloween decorations give off a more mournful atmosphere.
“It’s sad. There was a misunderstanding with the fire department and the fish wound up dying and that’s what happened,” said Hajj-Malik Lovick, 47, a lifelong resident of the area, who helped set up the aquarium.
Lovick previously told The Independent that the project was meant to bring “conversation” and joy to the community, specifically to children. On Thursday afternoon, four months after its inception, only a couple of passers-by stopped to take quick photos before moving on.
Animal rights charity PETA previously branded the attraction as “inhumane” and called for the fish to be rescued safely and placed in homes that could accommodate them.
“We’re definitely disappointed,” Kristin Rickman, PETA’s Emergency Response Team Director told The Independent, on Thursday.
“We would hope that anyone who was draining this puddle might take an extra couple of minutes and just call somebody to come scoop the fish up. It really only takes a few minutes out of your day to be kind.
“We could have had someone scoop these fish up and find a good home for them, rather than just letting them die. The fire department has their job to do and obviously dealing with fish isn’t part of it. [But] these fish should never have been there in the first place.”
Lovick and a friend came up with the idea for the aquarium while sitting by the leaking fire hydrant. “We started joking about what if we added fish,” he told The Associated Press. “Since the water is always there sitting in the puddle, why not turn this into something that’s more interesting?”
With help from Lovick’s uncle, the pair fortified the edges of the tree bed with rocks and brick, then bought 100 common goldfish from a pet store for $16 and put them in the puddle.
The site was later the scene of an attempted “goldfish heist” from two concerned residents who later admitted to being aware of the “optics” of their mission, as white people in a historically Black neighborhood.
However, despite the tragic end to the aquarium, Lovick plans to revive the community attraction. “Now we’re just gonna do it over, better,” he said on Thursday. “The fish wound up dying and we’re gonna make more and better fish. But it’s sad.”
Amid the trash bags, a sign posted on nearby railings also promises a return. “We are currently reconstructing the fish pond,” it reads. “Will return soon, no worries!”
Some, however, are unimpressed with the residents’ resilience. “Is two groups of fish dying not enough at this point,” says Rickman.
“I mean, why not invest in something different that doesn’t result in suffering? I mean, fish are individuals… They’re not they’re not knick-knacks. They’re living beings, and they experience pain, and it’s wrong to put them in a situation where they’re going to experience pain or be at risk of experiencing a painful death.”
Rickman added that she was unsure of any further involvement by PETA but urged organizers of the aquarium to think of the fish that had gone before and make more “compassionate” decisions in future.
