Bizarre NYC street aquarium closed because of cold, snow — but locals say fish were stashed in secret location

Something smells fishy.

A Bed-Stuy fire-hydrant-fueled street aquarium that went viral on social media was forced to close due to frigid temperatures and snow — but organizers claim the fish are alive and swimming in a secret location.

The attraction in a shallow tree put has drawn concern from animal activists who said the conditions were no way for its occupants to live, and a number of the feeder fish died when the FDNY stopped the leaky hydrant at the tree pit, then cemented over its original spot.

But organizers said this week the fish have been moved to a nearby outdoor koi pond on private property, despite freezing winter temperatures.

Roughly 30 surviving fish that survived midnight rescues, the FDNY cleanup and various giveaways to local children were moved several days ago to the backyard pond, according to Devang Shah, a local resident and architect who helps manage the project.

The temporary habitat is heated with a waterfall, Shah said – but is not being sprinkled with fish food through the winter because goldfish “stop eating below 50 degrees [Fahrenheit].”

“People don’t realize that fish are cold blooded … as long as they have access to oxygen, then they live,” he added.

Shah declined to provide the exact location of the koi pond, citing privacy reasons for the homeowner.

“Like all other fish and creatures of the sea … they tend to adapt to their habitat,” local resident Floyd Washington, who used to help manage the bizarre attraction, told The Post. “I was there [at the original pond] like two days ago and it was about 11, 12 degrees [Fahrenheit and] the fish were actually swimming.”

Washington, who said he is no longer an active member of the pond, said the relocation is “temporary,” and that the “aquarium” is only closed until the fish can be brought back to the intersection of Hancock Street and Tompkins Avenue in the spring.

But organizers are still in hot water as far as veterinarian Ben Rosenbloom is concerned, as he previously told The Post the pet store fish will suffer from changes in temperature, chemical runoff and hungry rats so long as they’re exposed to the elements.

“Fish in these conditions are going to die one way or another,” he said, calling the pet project “animal abuse.”

Since August, there have been upwards of a dozen 311 complaints of animal abuse at the fish pond, and all have been closed as of Wednesday.

As temperatures plummeted earlier this year, Washington described a car-powered filter system that organizers used to heat and filter the water-filled tree pit – though as of Tuesday, the system wasn’t working properly and the car was nowhere to be found.

Organizers eventually plan to install solar panels to replace the car mechanism, Washington said, though a GoFundMe for a solar-powered “outside ventilation system” launched this summer appears defunct and only reached halfway to its $5,000 goal.

Washington said the aquarium’s organizers are now working with the city’s parks department and may be moving the fish to a garden in the future.

In the meantime, an “intra-community working group” has been formed between pond organizers, city agencies and elected officials, Shah said, The group is in the review process for an “upgraded, temporary aquarium,” he added — with planning sessions slated to start next month in the search for a permanent setup. 

T-shirts to raise funds for the project will be sold in approximately the next two weeks on the aquarium’s social media channels, he said.

Shah told The Post the group’s ultimate goals are to create a permanent public aquarium on the street and a community center and after-school program focused on science, ecology and community building. 

The site would be a “permanent third place for quiet moments, connecting with neighbors, and wide-ranging community benefits,” he said, and create “pathways for greater public interaction with our streets.”