Photos: Riverside Park Names Massey The GOAT Goat
Aug. 1, 2019, 5:10 p.m.
The goats have returned to swallow more coarse vegetation and scowl for your Instagrams.
When leaving New York, it's customary to alert your friends by writing a self-indulgent essay explaining why you've decided to move to [choose one: Los Angeles/Washington, D.C./the Hudson Valley]. The beloved goats of Riverside Park—hired earlier this year to help munch on invasive plants between 119th and 125th streets in Manhattan—did no such thing. In late June, they simply disappeared. But instead of moving to L.A., they were sent home to their farm in Rhinebeck for a brief vacation. As it turned out, they were working too hard and were way ahead of schedule.
Thankfully, the goats have now returned to swallow more coarse vegetation and scowl for your Instagrams. On Thursday morning, the Riverside Park Conservancy even hosted an award ceremony to reveal the top goats in the city after more than 3,000 New Yorkers cast votes online to determine which goats would return. As West Side Rag reports, the contest came down to Chalupa, "a particularly gluttonous father of four," vs. Massey, "a big and beautiful 10-year-old with a personality to match." But only one goat could be crowned the GOAT, and Massey emerged the winner.
No recount needed! Massey was the big #VoteTheGoat winner today at @RiversideParkNY. What a huge success the GOATham program has been this summer. Come out to Riverside Park to say hello to the “summer interns” while they are hard at work removing invasive plants. pic.twitter.com/5KdeadMSkD
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) August 1, 2019
"The award ceremony today was a grand success, with approximately 400 people in attendance and plenty of press cameras as well," a Riverside Park Conservancy staffer tells us. "For reference, the end results of the vote the GOAT election were as follows: Massey came out on top as the number-one GOAT of 2019. Chalupa was a close second." A goat named Buckles came in third place. The results were announced by city council member Mark D. Levine.
Check out some photos of the goats up top, courtesy of the Riverside Park Conservancy. And stop by Riverside Park (enter near 120th and Riverside) to say hello to these highly productive creatures.
