PETS & ANIMALS

Goats help clear overgrown Manhattan park amid COVID-19 budget cuts

Thursday, September 10, 2020

Pandemic groundskeepers: Goats clear overgrown park

The managers of Stuyvesant Cove Park along the East River in Manhattan hired 20 goats to clear invasive weeds and brush that had built up over the summer.

EAST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Some new york city parks are going to the goats.

The managers of Stuyvesant Cove Park along the East River in Manhattan hired 20 goats to clear invasive weeds and brush that had built up over the summer, as staffing and budget cuts due to the COVID-19 pandemic left the area overgrown.

Park manager Candace Thompson says not only do the goats help fix the problem they make the land more fertile.

"It's nice to be able to connect with nature, even in the middle of a massive metropolis. Funnily enough, Gotham is a name for New York City, and it's based on a town that was - Gotham is an Old English word for 'place where goats live,'" Thompson said.

After the goats have eaten their fill, the park space will be rehabilitated for next year's growing season.

MORE PETS & ANIMALS: 5-year-old girl helps save swan stuck in drain