Floating Goat: Prospect Park’s New Weed Harvester Is Christened

PROSPECT PARK – Following an online competition over the summer, the Prospect Park Alliance (PPA) hosted an event on Friday, November 16 to unveil the name of the green space’s new weed harvesting boat and honor a young local who submitted the winning moniker for the aquatic vessel.

After more than 300 entries and over 700 votes, Floating Goat, submitted by eight-year-old Windsor Terrace resident Jack Costas, was selected as the winning name for the harvester.

Back in June, PPA launched a contest to name the new weed harvester which replaces a retired machine that had been named the Lake “Mess” Monster or “Messy” by the community. The new $140,000 vessel was funded by Council Members Brad Lander (District 39) and Mathieu Eugene (District 40) through the 2016 Participatory Budgeting process.

Of the 300 names submitted in the competition, PPA narrowed the list down to nine for the public to choose from, which along with Floating Goat included: Chompy, Da Pride O Lakeside, Harvey the Harvester, Lake Mess Monster II, The Little Orange Peel, Orange Crush, The Sea Slurpent, and Weedzilla. Costas’ entry came out on top by a margin of 30 votes.

The young Brooklynite said his winning idea was inspired by PPA’s team of goats who helped eat away invasive weeds in the park’s wooded areas in 2016 and 2017. Floating Goat will perform a similar duty in the 55-acre Prospect Park Lake, providing an environmentally friendly way to control excessive aquatic weed growth, such as floating water primrose and duckweed.

Along with winning a swag bag, Costas got the chance to steer Floating Goat around the lake.