Six of the celebrity goats.
Twenty-four goats are set to arrive in Riverside Park on Tuesday, and already they’ve caused enough of a stir to make it into The New Yorker, The New York Times and of course your dear old West Side Rag.
New Yorker writer Paige Williams went to the Hudson Valley to see the goats in their home environment. “The retirees, in their past life, had been commercially milked and bred. They now live on a farm near the Dutchess County village of Red Hook, under the care of Larry and Ann Cihanek. The Cihaneks’ two hundred or so goats are all donations, many of them offered after a barn fire, in 2015, killed their herd. Among them are Penny, formerly of a junk yard, and Buckles, who spent much of his life tethered by a chain and whose owner fed him cigarette butts.”
The goats will be fenced in between 119th and 125th Street, eating weeds, and parks employees will be there to watch over them. The welcoming ceremony is on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at 120th and Riverside Drive.
Riverside Park is promoting the goats with gusto, celebrating their personalities and linking them to pop culture trends, like Malle who apparently loves “Mean Girls, the Musical”.
Introducing the #GOaTHAM herd: Malle is the youngest goat in the group, and one of the quickest on his hooves – a wizard of words. Full bio on Instagram & Facebook. Get ready to #votetheGOAT 🥇🐐🥇🐐🥇🐐🥇🐐#GOAT #goatsofnyc pic.twitter.com/ymtq4i2ddh
— Riverside Park Conservancy (@RiversideParkNY) May 18, 2019
There’s also “Cheech and Chong”, who “have the munchies” a lot. That will help them eat all the weeds in the park.
Cheech & Chong are coming to Riverside Park with a mean case of the munchies. Head to our Instagram & Facebook for full bios & stay tuned to vote the #GOAT of the incoming herd. https://t.co/vRbbYyc3Ss pic.twitter.com/bZbDd3c6fD
— Riverside Park Conservancy (@RiversideParkNY) May 17, 2019
“Nannies” bring the “kids”!
We had a couple of Nubian goats in Columbia county, mid 90’s. Coyotes got ’em, but until then, Johnny and Louie were a constant source of antics, like acrobats, they could just about jump up onto the roof of the house. They were great companion walkers, in the woods, on either side of me, my arms draped over their torsos, their body heat kept me warm in the winter months. Looking forward to getting dressed up in our Haute Goature to welcome them.
OK, I think I already have my favorites.
Cheech & Chong of course!! Think I will swing by there later and join them in partaking of some weed.:)
what fun for the New Yorkers…I’m a North Carolinian & we have goats at Fearrington Village in pittsboro, nc…they used to be Tennessee walking goats…I don’t know what the latest group is…galloway goats that have a white strip around the middle 🙂