I visited New York Aquarium in 2012 (and then drove 2 hours and did the Long Island Aquarium on the same day!) and it was great to return after 13 years. While the Bronx, Queens, Central Park and Prospect Park zoos have all been quite stagnant for a very long time, the New York Aquarium opened Ocean Wonders: Sharks! in 2018 at a staggering cost of $158 million. After Hurricane Sandy struck the coast, the extensivley damaged aquarium reopened in stages, from Sharks! (2018), Spineless (2020), PlayQuarium (2022), the Seaside Cafe (2022) and Sea Cliffs/Sea Change (2022). All the 4 zoos combined haven't seen anything like the level of investment as has benefited the aquarium.
In truth, the changes aren't as widespread as one might think. Sea Cliffs looks almost identical to how it did in 2012, except for some updated signs and 'Sea Change' is just the same old underwater viewing area (with loads of scratched glass!) that has always been there, but with a few new graphics about climate change. Most people probably wouldn't even notice a difference. I really enjoyed seeing Sea Cliffs again, particularly the underwater viewing cave-like zone, but the lineup of species (California Sea Lion, Harbour Seal, Sea Otter, African Penguin) has clearly regressed as I saw the exact same 4 species on my previous visit AND Northern Fur Seals and Pacific Walruses. It was spectacular back then.
Glover's Reef, which is the introductory coral reef exhibit, and the 10 or so tanks in the Conservation Hall are all well done, although this area can become quite congested as it's the first thing that visitors encounter after entering the aquarium and crowds quickly form here.
PlayQuarium was called Explore the Shore in 2012 and now it's brighter, more kid-friendly, with a mini-indoor play area designed like a Kelp Forest and I quite enjoyed the setup. Spineless was called Alien Stingers and again it's an improvement, but the room isn't very large and mainly consists of some jellyfish tanks.
There's a random single tank that houses 3 species (Sandbar Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, Bluntnose Stingray) but the glare from the sunshine is just as bad as it was in 2012. Plus, back then this same tank held the following 7 species: Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Permit, Roughtail Stingray, Nurse Shark, Sand Tiger Shark and White-tip Reef Shark.
That leaves the shiny new, 2018 addition called Ocean Wonders: Sharks! and I was genuinely impressed. The stylish building can be seen from far away and the opening tank is a whopper in the form of a long tunnel that curves overhead and contains around 35 species and that includes 6 shark species. It's fantastic. There's another massive tank filled with a lot of fish and a ton of huge Southern Stingrays and this structure also has a glass kiddie tunnel that I crawled through. Great fun! There's a lot of interpretative material about sharks, some smaller tanks, a fantastic thematic element to the design, and then a third massive exhibit with more sharks, rays and smaller fish that is a floor-to-ceiling gem.
There seems to be an almost unanimous agreement amongst zoo nerds that the USA has the 'Big 5' aquariums in the shape of Shedd, Georgia, Monterey Bay, Tennessee and Baltimore, in some kind of order. With circa 170 public aquariums in the country, to be placed in that upper echelon is pretty damn impressive. There's a whole whack of really top-notch aquariums that arguably come next, such as Aquarium of the Pacific, Steinhart, Mystic, Oregon Coast, Adventure, Seattle, etc. I think that with the addition of Ocean Wonders: Sharks! that New York Aquarium could now possibly squeeze into the top 10 in the country.
A word on Coney Island, which I adore. After our two hours at the aquarium, and before we headed to the subway for trips to Prospect Park Zoo (1 hour) and then Central Park Zoo (1.5 hours) we had a delightful lunch at Salt & Sizzle, one of many food vendors along the epic boardwalk. The Coney Island boardwalk is 4.3 km (2.7 miles) in length, and it has a really wide walkway. This area has the legendary Luna Park amusement attraction, the New York Aquarium, tons of restaurants and shops and just people watching is worth it as thousands of individuals flock to this hugely popular area. The beaches are enormous and stunning, there's about a million garbage cans (it's a very clean zone) and just like everywhere in NYC there's a strong police presence as crime levels have dropped a lot over the years. In fact, this is the safest the city has been in decades, according to many crime statistic graphs online. Coney Island and its aquarium is highly recommended.
In truth, the changes aren't as widespread as one might think. Sea Cliffs looks almost identical to how it did in 2012, except for some updated signs and 'Sea Change' is just the same old underwater viewing area (with loads of scratched glass!) that has always been there, but with a few new graphics about climate change. Most people probably wouldn't even notice a difference. I really enjoyed seeing Sea Cliffs again, particularly the underwater viewing cave-like zone, but the lineup of species (California Sea Lion, Harbour Seal, Sea Otter, African Penguin) has clearly regressed as I saw the exact same 4 species on my previous visit AND Northern Fur Seals and Pacific Walruses. It was spectacular back then.
Glover's Reef, which is the introductory coral reef exhibit, and the 10 or so tanks in the Conservation Hall are all well done, although this area can become quite congested as it's the first thing that visitors encounter after entering the aquarium and crowds quickly form here.
PlayQuarium was called Explore the Shore in 2012 and now it's brighter, more kid-friendly, with a mini-indoor play area designed like a Kelp Forest and I quite enjoyed the setup. Spineless was called Alien Stingers and again it's an improvement, but the room isn't very large and mainly consists of some jellyfish tanks.
There's a random single tank that houses 3 species (Sandbar Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, Bluntnose Stingray) but the glare from the sunshine is just as bad as it was in 2012. Plus, back then this same tank held the following 7 species: Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Permit, Roughtail Stingray, Nurse Shark, Sand Tiger Shark and White-tip Reef Shark.
That leaves the shiny new, 2018 addition called Ocean Wonders: Sharks! and I was genuinely impressed. The stylish building can be seen from far away and the opening tank is a whopper in the form of a long tunnel that curves overhead and contains around 35 species and that includes 6 shark species. It's fantastic. There's another massive tank filled with a lot of fish and a ton of huge Southern Stingrays and this structure also has a glass kiddie tunnel that I crawled through. Great fun! There's a lot of interpretative material about sharks, some smaller tanks, a fantastic thematic element to the design, and then a third massive exhibit with more sharks, rays and smaller fish that is a floor-to-ceiling gem.
There seems to be an almost unanimous agreement amongst zoo nerds that the USA has the 'Big 5' aquariums in the shape of Shedd, Georgia, Monterey Bay, Tennessee and Baltimore, in some kind of order. With circa 170 public aquariums in the country, to be placed in that upper echelon is pretty damn impressive. There's a whole whack of really top-notch aquariums that arguably come next, such as Aquarium of the Pacific, Steinhart, Mystic, Oregon Coast, Adventure, Seattle, etc. I think that with the addition of Ocean Wonders: Sharks! that New York Aquarium could now possibly squeeze into the top 10 in the country.
A word on Coney Island, which I adore. After our two hours at the aquarium, and before we headed to the subway for trips to Prospect Park Zoo (1 hour) and then Central Park Zoo (1.5 hours) we had a delightful lunch at Salt & Sizzle, one of many food vendors along the epic boardwalk. The Coney Island boardwalk is 4.3 km (2.7 miles) in length, and it has a really wide walkway. This area has the legendary Luna Park amusement attraction, the New York Aquarium, tons of restaurants and shops and just people watching is worth it as thousands of individuals flock to this hugely popular area. The beaches are enormous and stunning, there's about a million garbage cans (it's a very clean zone) and just like everywhere in NYC there's a strong police presence as crime levels have dropped a lot over the years. In fact, this is the safest the city has been in decades, according to many crime statistic graphs online. Coney Island and its aquarium is highly recommended.