Coney’s Aquarium rebounds, rebuilds after Sandy
The New York Aquarium has cherished its setting on the Coney Island Boardwalk half a century. But the ocean that is the aquarium’s lifeblood dealt it a shattering blow last fall.
Superstorm Sandy’s surge overran carefully calibrated tanks with oily, debris-filled water, knocked out even backup power to all the exhibits and made it impossible to check on some of them for days. Managers contemplated shipping animals away and wondered whether the institution itself could survive in its spot on Coney Island.
Five months later, more than 80 percent of the collection is intact, and visitors should be able to see walruses, angelfish, otters and others when about half the aquarium reopens late spring. A planned expansion remains on track, now coupled with rebuilding and floodproofing an institution that aims to be an object lesson in enduring on the shore.