By Lisa Kava
The Riverside Park Conservancy announced on Wednesday that the goats from upstate New York, who brought so much joy to Upper West Siders in previous summers, will be arriving in Riverside Park soon. The Conservancy released this video, but not the exact date.
During the summers of 2019 and 2021, goats from Green Goats Farm in Rhinebeck, New York, were brought to New York City to “work” in a section of Riverside Park, between 119th and 122nd Street, known as the “Forever Wild Woodland.”
This area of the park is on a steep slope, and has become overgrown with invasive plants, poison ivy and “aggressive growth nearly inaccessible to mere mortal gardeners,” according to the Riverside Park Conservancy.
That’s where the goats come in. Their job has been to eat and clear invasive plants, weeds, and poison ivy, and to “make space for more ecologically suitable plantings in this crucial forested area,” according to a press release.
After taking a hiatus in 2020, the goats returned in the summer of 2021. While 24 goats have arrived on the scene in past years, not all were needed for the entire summer: some goats were eliminated and voted out reality-show style — until there were just five finalists and one winner.
A Riverside Park Conservancy spokesperson told the Rag that the goats will be here in the early summer and some will stay until the end of the summer. “We will have repeat returners,” the spokesperson said. Upper West Siders will have to stay tuned to see if one of the returning goats will be crowned the G.O.A.T. this summer.
“We are thrilled to have the goats help again this year,” John Herrold, interim president and CEO of Riverside Park Conservancy said. “Everyone benefits form their presence — the goats get to enjoy the Park’s weeds and the Park’s natural environment is improved, and New Yorkers get to see goats in their local park.”
If you would like to volunteer to help out with Riverside Park’s newest residents, contact Kristen Meade at grassroots@riversideparknyc.org.
This is just the kind of good news for our planet that is needed in this stressful time!
Love these guys — I mean, goats!
Hooray!
When I was young my mother would bundle all us kids up and take us to a neighboring farm, where the goats had been eating poison ivy. We’d love the goats, but then we had to drink copious amounts of fresh goat’s milk. The Belief being; that you would be inmmunized against poison ivy for the summer.