Riverside Park's Weed-Eating Goats Get To Work

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — Delighted New Yorkers cheered as a herd of 24 goats were released into Riverside Park on Tuesday, where they will spend the summer eating weeds.

The goats' endless appetite, prowess at traversing steep slopes and ability to stomach weeds such as poison ivy will help clear Riverside Park of invasive plant species, Riverside Park Conservancy president Dan Garodnick said Tuesday. The conservancy is calling the project "GOaTHAM" and Garodnick referred to the herd as the organization's new "summer interns."

"I am excited to welcome Skittles, Specks, Cheech, Chong and all the rest of the 24 goats who will join our outstanding team of horticultural professionals in Riverside Park," Garodnick said Tuesday.

The goats will work in a two-acre stretch of Riverside Park, located roughly between West 119th and 125th streets, to help clear 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.

The herd was driven to Riverside Park from Green Goats Farm in Rhinebeck, New York. All 24 members of the herd have retired from farm work and now spend their golden years traveling the state for weed whacking jobs.

In a city that elevates animals to celebrity status — think the Mandarin Duck — the goat herd is an instant hit. Dozens of New Yorkers crowded the slopes of Riverside Park near West 120th Street to snap photos of the herd.

Richard Williams first learned about the goats by reading articles on the internet. The registered nurse told Patch that he's not surprised that the goats proved to be so popular.

"New Yorkers love a nice surprise, and they love to get away from the mundane. Not that New York is mundane, but this definitely a routine breaker," Williams said, adding that he'll be back to visit the goats with his grandchildren when crowds start to die down.

Ani Tiburcio took her daughter to see the goats after a friend told them about the herd during their Tuesday morning bus ride.

"It's fantastic to be able to have this for the kids and for the neighborhood. To have a sense of country in the city," Tiburcio said. "My parents are from the Dominican Republic so my grandmother has some goats. But to see them here it's very different."

The Riverside Park Conservancy will conduct a "Vote the G.O.A.T" contest throughout the summer where New Yorkers can vote for their favorite member of the herd to be crowned the "greatest of all time."

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.