For the fifth summer in a row, a herd of goats is moving to Harlem to help turn the area into an ecologically pristine environment—courtesy of the Riverside Park Conservancy. 

Stationed at 120th Street in the past, the animals—Charlise, Chico, Godiva, Mallomar, Paris, Romeo and Turbo—will move to Riverside Park at West 143rd Street, where officials hope they’ll be able to make as much of a positive impact as they have a few streets over, on July 12.

“Thanks to the goat crew’s hard work at 120th Street over the past four summers, the human staff at the Conservancy and NYC Parks now have access to a much clearer slope,” reads an official press release. “With the success of the goats’ work at that location, native understory and large trees to fill in gaps can be installed, protecting the existing mature tree canopy.”

Further uptown, the goats will be tasked with munching on poison ivy and other invasive plants that are hard for human gardeners to navigate. 

The effort is part of the Riverside Park Conservancy’s North Park Initiative, which seeks to bring more resources, maintenance and programming to particular portions of the park.

“These areas, which span between West 120th and 181st Streets, have seen years of neglect and disinvestment, leading to great disparities in amenities, cleanliness and overall conditions,” reads the release. “In its efforts to cultivate a more equitable experience across the Park and enhance recreation and fitness opportunities, the Conservancy has welcomed new public programming to the natural shoreline at 145th Street and has unveiled new outdoor exercise equipment at 151st Street.”

A bit about the animals themselves: the seven goats come from Green Goats in Rhinebeck, New York, a group founded back in 2008 to harness “goats’ natural affinity for consuming weeds, bringing them to locations across the United States for a pesticide-free alternative to clearing invasive species,” according to the release.

Mallomar in particular may look familiar to many: he was crowned the G.O.A.T. (see what they did there) by the public just last year.

* This article was originally published here

Virginia, the intimate East Village bistro that’s home to one hell of a burger, is doing what most New Yorkers do in the summer: getting the hell out of the sweaty and sweltering concrete jungle and heading for cooler pastures of upstate. And it’s bringing that beefy beaut with ’em. 

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Yes, for the duration of the summer, Catskill residents and Scribner’s Catskill Lodge visitors will be able to get a taste of Virginia’s signature dish on site at the hotel’s in-house restaurant Prospect for a season-long burger residency. Like at the Manhattan eatery, the beloved burger will feature a juicy, house-ground beef patty—the meat used was “sourced locally to stay true to Prospect’s focus on local purveyors,” per the restaurant team—melty Cabot cheddar, sweet onion marmalade and a decadent bone marrow aioli. You can also add some thick-cut bacon for five bucks or a runny organic egg for $4. 

Priced at $25 a pop, the Virginia’s burger will be available for dinner at Prospect on all days of operation (Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 5pm–9pm; Friday and Saturday from 5pm–10pm). Note, it’s not the same burger that’s available at lunchtime: that would be Prospect’s own double-patty smashburger, which is topped with cheddar cheese, smoked BBQ sauce and crispy onions (though all of that sounds plenty delicious, too).

NYC burger fans might remember that Virginia’s originally opened up in 2015 at 647 East 11th Street, standing out from fellow East Village newcomers on the power of that primo patty situation. However, after owner Reed Adelson chose to close at the conclusion of the cozy spot’s lease in 2021, burger lovers worried that they’d never see that cheddar-draped stunner ever again. Thankfully, that Virginia’s burger returned to the NYC dining scene when the restaurant reopened at 200 East Third Street last spring.

Check out snaps from the Scribner’s Catskill Lodge x Virginia’s burger residency below:

* This article was originally published here