Goatham

Riverside Park’s goats are baaaaaaaack on July 18th, and hungrier than ever!

Riverside Park Conservancy is thrilled to welcome three tenacious, invasive plant-eating goats to face off in New York City’s most anticipated competitive eating event, “The Great Goat Graze-Off,” to be held on Saturday, July 18 (rain date July 19), from 11:00 am–1:30 pm, in West Harlem on the lawn north of Ten Mile Playground, at West 151st Street and the West Side Highway.

The festivities will be overseen by George Shea of Major League Eating, best known for hosting Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest. A historic milestone, “The Great Goat Graze-Off” is currently the ONLY professional eating competition between goats. Stay tuned to learn more about our goat herd!

We encourage goat enthusiasts to RSVP here.

Click here for pedestrian and driving instructions to get to the event!

While the Conservancy has become known for using goats to help control invasive plants in the Park over the last seven years, the goats return this year for another professional eating competition celebrating their return. The contest is officiated by George Shea of “Major League Eating” and Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest fame, bringing all the fanfare of a championship eating contest to the Park!

“The Great Goat Graze-Off” gives goat fans a chance to meet fifteen visiting goats, including the three selected for their summer residency in Riverside Park. The event features local vendors, food and drinks, live music, arts and crafts, games, and educational activities for all ages.

Meet The Herd

Romeo

Returning to Riverside Park for his fourth stint, Romeo is your forever best friend. He wants your hugs and a snuggle at night. He knows he can’t solve all the world’s troubles, but he’ll be by your side through it all.

Mallomar

Mallomar, a staple in the Riverside Park herd year after year, is unwavering in his loyalty and courage. He might not be the loudest of the bunch, but his calm, steadfast nature provides security for those surrounding him who know he will always have their back. He’s returning to the Graze Off to defend his champion title.

3rd Contestant

One coveted spot remains. We’re waiting to see which hungry challenger will join this year’s competition.

About Goatham

The goats’ much-anticipated return marks the seventh year of the Conservancy’s Goatham Initiative, a novel, pesticide-free approach to managing invasive plant species in Riverside Park. Undaunted by steep slopes and difficult terrain, goats can access areas that present a challenge for human gardeners, clearing dense overgrowth and preparing sites for future ecological restoration and native plantings.

After the festivities, the three resident goats will head to a vegetation-covered slope at West 137th Street, where they will spend the next 10 weeks feasting on invasive species such as poison ivy, mugwort, and porcelain berry. Over the years, the goats have helped restore slopes throughout the Park, including at West 120th Street and West 143rd Street, supporting broader efforts to improve the health and resilience of Riverside Park’s natural areas.

Their work at West 137th Street continues the Conservancy’s investment in the Park’s northern sections through the North Park Initiative, which brings increased resources, maintenance, restoration, and programming to uptown Riverside Park.

Riverside Park Conservancy thanks Con Edison for its generous support of this project!

Why Goats?

As part of our Woodland Restoration Initiative, Riverside Park Conservancy has spent countless hours of volunteer and staff time over the last 15 years to control invasive species.

Unfortunately, it has been difficult to make progress in areas with steep slopes. Some of the species of plants that have proven most difficult to control are Porcelain Berry, English Ivy, Mugwort, Multiflora Rose and Poison Ivy, among several other species. These plants and vines have dominated two acres of the degraded woodland that we are working to improve.

Riverside Park’s goats are like a herd of full-time professional weeding staff. They are able to traverse difficult, hard-to-reach places, and can also gulp down poison ivy without a second thought. This frees up human hands — and significant portions of time — to work on other components of restoration.

Goats and their giant appetites have been widely used by farmers, and recently, by nearby parks to assist in controlling and suppressing the growth of these detrimental invasive plants. Not only do goats eat almost constantly — they can consume 25% of their own body weight in vegetation in just one day — but their fecal matter adds nutrients to the soil as they go. It’s an all around win — a sustainable, chemical-free method of removing invasive species from a landscape.

The Process

Throughout the season, the goats continuously consume the weeds all the way down to the roots, which stunts the plants’ normal growth trajectory by making them start all over — only to be eaten again. After a few seasons of eating, the plants’ ability to grow will have been weakened, and perhaps eliminated altogether.

Please contact us for ways to get involved.

Before/After at 143rd Street

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