By Daniel Katzive
Observant Upper West Siders strolling through Riverside Park South might have noticed something unusual this summer.
An unmanned lawnmower appears to be caring for the steep grassy slope around West 69th Street. West Side Rag reached out to NYC Parks and the Riverside Parks Conservancy (RPC) to learn more about this new robot mowing in our midst. It turns out, the machine is the first of its kind working in New York City.
The new Spider ILD 01 remote control mower was purchased by the RPC this spring, according to a Parks department spokesperson. The equipment is specially designed to mow steep slopes where a traditional lawnmower cannot safely operate. Parks and the RPC tested multiple options before settling on this model.
In the past, the steep grassy inclines of Riverside Park South, favored spots for sledding in the winter, have been maintained by gardeners using heavy, handheld string trimmers, more colloquially known as weed whackers. Mowing here would regularly require a team of four or five Parks staff. It was difficult and potentially dangerous work, requiring staff to balance on the steep hills in often hot temperatures.
The “friendly Spider,” as Parks staff refer to it, can accomplish the same job in a couple of hours with a single operator standing safely above using a remote control similar to what you might use to control a drone or remote control airplane.
The ILD01 is manufactured by Spider, a Czech company which says that its machines feature speed, ease of operation, quality of cut, low noise, and efficiency. “On the slopes where people can barely walk Spider feels at home,” the company boasts. The ILD01 weighs in at 288 kg (635 pounds) and can move as fast as 6 km per hour (4 mph) with an 18 horsepower engine.
There are currently two Parks employees trained to drive the Spider, and the staff who previously trimmed the grass are now available for other maintenance work in the park. The machine was purchased by the Riverside Park Conservancy for the standard price of about $26,000.
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Really beautifies the area.
All the more reason to keep your dog leashed.
Yes. Keep your dog leashed. It is the law after all.
It’s a robot in the sense that a $17 RC toy car is a self-driving vehicle.
Howcum the goats are not used here??
Goats are great for undergrowth, but they don’t mow grass – they tear is up by the roots.
Great that staff don’t have to weed whack up the hill now — they were getting dog doo shot into their faces before.
BTW that area is off limits to dogs. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was SOMEWHERE where people could walk barefoot safely (sans dog doo/pee). Please tell people to get off that lawn when you see them with their dogs. Thank you kindly.
Barefoot?? Really?! Seems a somewhat inappropriate objective in the city.
Not really. Earthing/grounding is something we NEED to do as city inhabitants.
Since when do dog owners listen to what someone’s telling them, even if they’re blatantly in the wrong?
You can’t tell them anything. They “listen” and then come back at you, accusing you of being in the wrong somehow. Maybe they’re rabid.
I hope this is electric but can’t tell from the picture. Less pollution.
So- now someone is out of a job
Don’t worry; there is PLENTY of other work for them to do in the Park.
Yes yes, thank god! There’s so much garbage and dog doo and doggie bags to pick up. If we keep making a mess, we’ll be providing them with work forever!
Such s device might incentivize non-productive workers to up their game or risk being replaced.
You try doing their job and put up with everything they do and then call them “non-productive”.
This park would benefit enormously from rewilding sections of its lawns — unmowed areas support pollinators, birds, and native plants that disappear under constant mowing. Many cities are moving toward this model, and it costs less to maintain while creating genuine urban biodiversity.
They were doing that on the hill that goes into the park around 68th Street. Maybe they stopped because people were taking all the wildflowers to sell, thus stripping the whole hill and turning it into a muddy slope. Probably people in other cities know how to behave.
They are doing a lot of that. There are several areas which have been planted specifically as pollinator areas, and a few of us volunteers are doing this, as well.
$26,000 lawn-mower ? Can’t you get one more expensive ?
I was waiting for one of the couch quarterbacks to whine about the cost.
Did you ever watch them weed whacking in the necessary protective gear under the sweltering sun?
Probably costs the RPC a good deal less than the 4-5 staff who would previously have done the job.
The motorized bikes are FAR more harmful to park goers than dogs.
Even the poor goats & sheep have lost their jobs to AI. One less bit of charm lost to efficiency.