NEW YORK – A makeshift aquarium that sprung up this summer in a puddle under a leaking fire hydrant has been paved over, much to the dismay of neighbors who have turned the area into a hangout and goldfish shrine.

The city’s Department of Environmental Protection has much said the dribbling hydrant created a safety hazard. Workers filled the area of ​​dirt that previously held the puddle Friday morning, and yellow tape sealed off a patch of freshly poured concrete around the repaired hydrant, leaving it looking like the city’s smallest crime scene.

“Oh my God,” Sofia Talavera, 24, said with her hands raised to her head as she surveyed the scene. “People actually took the time and money to make it beautiful. This was literally the community coming together.”

The so-called Bed-Stuy Aquarium, named after the surrounding Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, was formed when a leaking hydrant carved out a shallow pool next to a tree bed on a residential street, and residents filled it with store bought goldfish.

The pond was controversial from the start. Some of the fish were “rescued” during the summer by people concerned about their well-being. That infuriated others, who said the fish were fine, restocked the pool and set a watch.

After media attention and some donations, organizers continued to build the site, adding signage, decorations and seating. A contraband sign designed to look like an official Parks Department license plate read “BEDSTUY AQUARIUM,” and a telephone pole was painted with palm-sized goldfish surrounded in blue.

The pond was easily found by tourists after it became searchable on Google Maps. Two visitors from California who came to the site Friday morning said they planned to send a picture to friends in Los Angeles who were remotely obsessed.

“Now we have to get the word out,” said Adam Aguilar, a visual artist. His friend laid a bouquet of flowers next to two flickering candles at a makeshift memorial site.

It always seemed inevitable that the fish would eventually have to be removed. Firefighters need hydrants to be in working order. Winter was coming.

Firefighters repaired the hydrant on Tuesday, but residents quickly filled the pond with water and fish. Videos on social media showed tense exchanges between locals and fire workers and police protection for the cement layers.

The Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement that it “looks forward to working with community members to find a suitable alternative location for this makeshift gem,” adding, “This allows us to keep New Yorkers safe , ensuring that the fire that previously flowed. the hydrant does not freeze or become inoperable.”

The remaining goldfish were removed and placed in a bucket, the department said.

Some residents have expressed optimism that the pond could be moved to a nearby community garden, while others are pushing for the conversion of an abandoned storefront on the block into an indoor aquarium and meeting space. The organizers most involved in these efforts declined to comment.

On his way to work, 28-year-old Jon Frier passed the site and joked to friends: “Does anyone have a jackhammer?”

He paused to try to draw a goldfish in the wet concrete. Across the road, an employee in an Environmental Protection truck warned him not to with a long horn, supported by a policeman in another vehicle.

“They can’t let us have anything, can they? I can’t believe Eric Adams,” Frier said, referring to the city’s mayor.

Adams’ media team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

City officials have sometimes clashed or negotiated with residents over the use of fire hydrants, long requisitioned to create cooling spray zones during hot summer months. A compromise was eventually reached whereby residents can apply for a permit to use a low-flow sprinkler loaned and installed by a firefighter.

For Talavera, the disappearance of the aquarium means the loss of a late-night meeting place that, unlike city parks, could not be closed at night.

After New York Liberty won the WNBA national championship recently, she posted a grainy image of the fire hydrant on Instagram. It read: “last night was so awesome I had to go to the aquarium to celebrate.”