Coney Island #1: Brooklyn to Stage Coup d'Etat at Aquarium?

Among the highlights of Borough President Marty Markowitz's State of the Borough speech last night was a suggestion that the city cancel a that puts the New York Aquarium in Coney Island under the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Bronx Zoo. Mr. Markowitz basically suggested the institution is getting a raw deal in terms of budget and attention from the Society. He said he is working with the Mayor’s office to "consider the possibility of a Brooklyn-based board of directors to take control" of the New York Aquarium. “While I applaud the Society’s work with zoos,” he said, “this aquarium needs a whale-size investment—not a budget the size of a guppy.” He said that "the aquarium remains a perennial after-thought for funding and programming." The status of the Aquarium's desperately needed--and much publicized--makeover is unclear.