Conservancy President & CEO Dan Garodnick presented Massey with the award and bouquet. (
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Skittles being interviewed by the press. (
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Who didn’t love the goats of Riverside Park? The much-celebrated visitors to the UWS greenspace helped rid the park of invasive plant species, and offered many photo-ops for a grateful community. The goats were hardly slackers: they worked so quickly and efficiently that they were sent back home to Green Goats Farm in Rhinebeck, NY to take a break before the end of the summer. Meantime, the Riverside Park Conservancy held a vote to see which goats their human neighbors liked best. The top vote-getters would return for the rest of the summer.
On Thursday, August 1, the Conservancy announced the winners. Approximately 400 people turned out for the awards ceremony and plenty of press cameras were on hand as well. It was a tight race, with over 3,000 votes cast. The winners received a medal, a trophy, and for the top two – a bouquet of weeds. First place went to a goat named Massey, with Chalupa, Buckles, Bella and Skittles as the second-to-fifth place finishers.
“Massey — a 10 year old from MA, who ate 1,328 pounds of weeds — was crowned The GOAT. 2nd place finisher Chalupa objected & tried to steal the winner’s bouquet,” tweeted Dan Garodnick, President and CEO of Riverside Park Conservancy.
The top four will be staying in Riverside Park to finish out the season of invasive plant removal. There was only enough vegetation for four, so Skittles headed back to Green Goats Farm after the ceremony.