Bed-Stuy aquarium cofounder sentenced for attempted murder

Hajj Lovick, a co-creator of the viral Bed-Stuy aquarium has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for opening fire into a crowd in Brooklyn in June 2023.

Lovick, 48, helped build the goldfish pond in a sidewalk pit this summer. At the time, he was awaiting trial for the shooting, which the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office says took place on June 15, 2023.

The incident occurred in front of a bar called Lover’s Rock, about 100 feet from where Lovick would go on to help build the aquarium.

According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, during an argument in front of the bar, Lovick pulled out a knife and gestured as though he was going to stab a 51-year-old male victim.

Lovick then left and returned minutes later with a gun, which he fired twice, striking the victim in the right shin, prosecutors said. He then fled the scene and was arrested four days later.

On Friday, Lovick was sentenced in Brooklyn Supreme Court to 12 years for charges including attempted murder, attempted assault and reckless endangerment.

“Today’s sentence sends a clear message that senseless acts of gun violence have no place in Brooklyn,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “The defendant’s decision to open fire over a petty argument not only caused serious harm to the victim but endangered innocent lives in our community.”

This summer, the aquarium became a social media sensation after Lovick and his co-creators turned the area around a leaky hydrant into a colorful fish pond, complete with real goldfish. In October, that was cemented over by the city, and a second version was built inside an adjacent tree pit.

Now, the aquarium’s fate is unclear. As of Friday morning, only its furnishings (painted seating, signage, a tiled tank bed) remained on the corner of Hancock Street and Tompkins Avenue — the goldfish have been gone since late last month. (Also gone are the upgrades organizers installed in an attempt at winterizing the installation.)

“The fish have been moved to a local koi pond,” a post on the aquarium’s Instagram feed announced in December, adding that plans were in the works for “a permanent public aquarium on the same corner.”