There are goats in Riverside Park!

The third annual "Running of the Goats" event happened in Riverside Park last week, but the cute little animals—who are brought to the area yearly to help clean up the park—will roam the premise between 119th and 122nd Streets all throughout the summer.

The section of Riverside Park slopes sharply down to the Hudson River and too steep to weed, according to the Riverside Park Conservancy. Enter the small herd of goats from upstate New York, who are naturally able to navigate the steep hillside while simultaneously chewing on some plants. 

You can visit the four resident goats—Skittles, Cheech, Elenor, and Big G—any time this summer as they munch on poison ivy, porcelain berry, multifloral rose, bittersweet, wineberry, and lesser celandine, across 2 acres, before they go home to Green Goats Farm in Rhinebeck, NY.

This is the third time goats have come to the park for the summer to keep the plants at bay as part of the Riverside Park Conservancy’s "Goatham City" initiative launched in 2019.

The uptown park isn't the only one to have enlisted the help of furry creatures to keep the flora at bay. Last month, sheep invaded Governors Island once more. 

Flour, Sam, Evening, Chad and Philip Aries moved away from their usual home in Friends of Tivoli Lake Preserve and Farm in Albany to spend the warmer months on Governors Island, snacking on invasive species as part of an innovative and eco-friendly landscaping program. The animals, who have clearly become the island's most famous employees, will help make sure that the area's biodiversity will continue to thrive.

We are delighted to welcome the goats back in the city!