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7 Photos Of Sheep Chilling In NYC Parks From Before You Were Born
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 6, 2013
Modified Apr 6, 2013
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picture taken between 1900 and 1906
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By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 6, 2013
Modified Apr 6, 2013
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In Paris, city officials have enlisted sheep to graze on grass outside the Paris Archives building, and may expand the program for the furry animals to maintain lawns around other buildings. A Paris farm director explained to the AP, "It might sound funny, but animal lawnmowers are ecological as no gasoline is required, and cost half the price of a machine. And they're so cute."
Also: "A similar experiment in a park outside Paris even found that sheep droppings were a benefit, bringing swallows back to the area." And Fabienne Giboudeaux, Paris City Hall's director of Green Spaces, said, "I can imagine this very easily in London and New York ... even Tokyo. And why not have them at the Eiffel Tower?"
New York, you say? Well, there were sheep in Central Park's Sheep Meadow. They were added in 1864; the NYC Parks and Recreation Department says:
Sheep Meadow takes its name from the flock of Southdown and Dorset sheep that were kept on the meadow from 1864 until 1934. Olmsted and Vaux believed that the sheep enhanced the Romantic English quality of the park. The animals served a practical purpose as well—they trimmed the grass and fertilized the lawn. In 1871, Jacob Wrey Mould (1825-1886) designed an elaborate sheepfold to house both the flock and its shepherd. Twice a day, the shepherd stopped traffic on the west drive so that the flock could travel to and from the meadow. In the 1910s and 1920s, the flock shared space with a variety of folk-dancing festivals, children’s pageants, and patriotic celebrations. In 1934, when the sheep were transferred to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, the sheepfold was converted into Tavern on the Green, a restaurant that has grown in size and popularity over the years.
BTW, the Prospect Park Zoo's Fleece Festival is May 18-19! Here's what Paris' newest civil servants look like:
As for the potential of sheep coming to NYC, we're a little worried that artisanal butchers will eye them for a feast—although maybe they'll have to battle the Etsy knitting crowd!
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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