Riverside Park Goats Sent Back To Farm For Being Too Efficient

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — The herd of weed-whacking goats in Riverside Park was thinned after two weeks on the job because the bovids proved more successful at removing invasive species from the park than originally anticipated.

Six of the goats were sent back to Green Goat Farms in Rhinebeck, New York, leaving 18 remaining to work in Riverside Park, the Riverside Park Conservancy announced. More goats may be sent back to the farm later this month, the conservancy said.

The goat herd was brought into Riverside Park on May 21 to help clear a two-acre stretch of Riverside Park, located roughly between West 119th and 125th streets, of weeds such as porcelain berry, English ivy, mugwort, multiflora rose and poison ivy. Steep slopes and dense vegetation in the area make it hard for human landscapers to work effectively, but pose no issues for goats.

Goats that were sent back to Rhinebeck include Cheech and Chong, Ben, Max, Reese and Charlie, the New York Post first reported. Goat handlers picked the goats out of the herd because they were the first to respond to a handler's call, according to the report. While the herd as a whole is beloved by locals, some goats that have become stand-alone stars were able to avoid the staff cut.

Leaders in the Riverside Park Conservancy's "Vote the G.O.A.T (Greatest of all Time)" competition such as Bella, Chalupa, Louie, Winnie and Skittles remain hard at work in the park.

The conservancy's summer program is called "GOaTHAM" as a play on New York City's nickname of Gotham. Gotham actually means "goat town" in Old English and was first meant as an insult to the city when it was introduced in the early 19th century, according to the conservancy.

The "Goatham" initiative will run between May 21 and Aug. 30, according to the Riverside Park Conservancy. Goats will be kept in a fenced-in area while they are working to ensure that none escape and that humans don't attempt to bother them while they're working.