In Manhattan, they’re asking what happened to the “Pepsi-Cola” sign. In Queens, they’re asking what happened to the “aloC-ispeP” sign. In both cases, the answer is that it has been temporarily dismantled and will be reinstalled nearby. In any case, the Hunters Point waterfront will not lose this distinctive, ruby-red, 120-foot-long, 72-year-old presence.

News of its deconstruction has been circulating at least since July, when it appeared on Andrew Fine’s Fine Blog and was picked up by Curbed.

But the actual dismantling, which began last month, took some New Yorkers by surprise. (O.K., let’s be honest; it took some of our colleagues here at The Times by surprise. That’s why they asked us to look into it.)

Designed by the Artkraft Strauss Sign Corporation, the sign once crowned Pepsi’s Hunters Point bottling plant, which closed in 1999 and was later demolished. In part because of strong interest from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the sign was re-erected nearby at what was always intended to be an interim location. It is still owned and maintained by PepsiCo, whose stewardship was praised in 2003 by Robert B. Tierney, the commission chairman.

“People actually liked living directly behind it,” said Jon McMillan, the director of planning at the Rockrose Development Corporation, which has been redeveloping the area with residential buildings. “It’s open enough that it’s easy to see through and around.” He said that Rockrose would not even have minded if the sign had stayed in place, but that the design of a waterfront park could not be changed to accommodate its presence in the current spot.

Instead, it will be moved slightly to the north, where it will stand in front of Rockrose’s East Coast 7 project, a 24-story, 300-apartment building that is scheduled to be completed in 2011. Mr. McMillan said that in the apartments directly behind the sign, only the bedrooms will face west, overlooking the sign directly. As the building rises and clears the top of the sign, it will cantilever outward, so that living rooms have a view of Manhattan — unimpeded or unadorned, depending on whether or not you think young.