Public Employee Press


Local 1501 members
Keep aquarium afloat

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

THE Sponge Bob Squarepants Underwater Adventure film at the New York Aquarium's 4-D theater is way cooler, thanks to the MacGyver-like ingenuity of Local 1501 members who go above and beyond to maintain the seaside tourist attraction that was severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Sponge Bob Squarepants, the ever optimistic cartoon character beloved by most children" and a lot of adults- lives under the sea at Coney Island in a 15-minute film that is a huge revenue generator for Brooklyn's famous seaside cultural institution. Recently, the 4-D theater's air conditioning system was overheating, making temps unbearable, especially for children and the elderly.

Concerned, Supervising Maintainer Ralph Ramos rescued Bikini Bottom and the 4-D theater when he devised a way to bring water from an adjacent building using a garden hose and perforated pipe to mist the system and keep things cool. "Necessity is the mother of invention," said a soaking wet Ramos. "Now it's like paradise in the theater."

The shark exhibit is under construction, and graffi ti vandals saw the huge wall surrounding the site as a blank canvas.
Seeking a creative solution for cleaning the wall, management looked to private contractors "who would have charged the city $10,000 for a stencil they could only use once," said Local 1501 Supervising Maintainer Bill Sheehan.

The members in Local 1501 had a better, money-saving idea.

"I came up with a creative solution by thinking out of the box," Ramos said. "I looked at the coastline, the environment. We had to make it a curiosity and appealing to the eye. If not, it doesn't bring joy."

Once he got the go-ahead from managers, Ramos took cardboard from recycling, a razor and pen to make a sand tiger shark stencil.

"We paint over the graffi ti that usually appears over the weekend," said Sheehan. With Ramos, who has loved to draw since childhood, they hand-stenciled and painted sand tiger sharks on the wall.

The aquarium's shark exhibit won't be completed for another two to five years, Sheehan said. Sandy submerged the aquarium in 15 feet of saltwater that destroyed the boardwalk and corroded electrical and ventilation systems.

The continued diligence in the cleanup and restoration by the aquarium workers in New York Zoological Society Employees Local 1501 have kept the renowned site open, even as they wait for FEMA funds to repair the buildings' plumbing and septic systems, saltwater systems for tanks, recurring sinkholes, and more.

"Our hearts are with the aquarium and the thousands of kids who visit. We are dedicated to our jobs and to this community," Ramos said. "We want visitors to have a memorable experience that keeps them coming back again and again."