BY COLIN MIXSON
This kid is the greatest of all
time!
A Windsor Terrace tyke
suggested the winning name
for Prospect Park’s recently
acquired fl oating weed harvester,
which green-space offi -
cials offi cially christened the
“Floating Goat” at a Nov. 16
ceremony near the Boathouse
in Brooklyn’s Backyard.
Eight-year-old Jack Costas
joined leaders of meadow
steward the Prospect Park
Alliance and local offi cials at
the naming event, where the
youngster stressed the importance
of the vessel that sucks
up unwanted plants on the
surface of Prospect Park Lake
and spits them out as mulch .
“If there wasn’t anything to
clean up weeds, there wouldn’t
be anywhere to play, because
it would be covered in weeds,”
he said.
Costas’s “Floating Goat”
moniker was one of some 300
that locals suggested to the
Alliance for its quasi-democratic
process, in which green
thumbs whittled down the
hundreds of options to a short
list of nine they could live
with, according to a spokeswoman
for the park keepers.
“We didn’t want to be copy
cats of Boaty McBoatface,”
said Lucy Gardener, referencing
the popular, but overruled,
crowd-sourced moniker for a
British ship offi cials asked the
public to name in 2016.
Alliance leaders then asked
locals to vote for their favorite
of the nine fi nalists — which
included such inspired names
as “Weedzilla” and “Chompy”
— and more than 700 weighed
in, with Costas’s submission
winning by a slim 30-vote
margin, Gardener said.
The youngster’s inspiration,
of course, was the clovenfooted
farm hands the Alliance
hired to help clear weeds
and unwanted vegetation in
GOT HIS GOAT: Jack Costas reigned victorious in the contest to name Prospect Park’s new weed-harvesting
boat with his suggestion the “Floating Goat.” Photo by Colin Mixson
the park’s Vale of Cashmere in
2016 and 2017 .
And his whole family partied
when they found out he
won the competition, his mom
said.
“It was just a huge celebration
in our house,” said Jaime
Costas.
In addition to eternal local
fame, the lad received Brooklyn’s
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Backyard swag including
a frisbee, water bottle, and
temporary tattoos — along
with the prized opportunity
to cut class early to attend the
naming ceremony, he said.
“My friends are only jealous
that I got to leave early,”
said Costas, a student at PS 154
in Windsor Terrace.
The boy also got what he
called a once-in-a-lifetime
chance to drive the vessel he
christened, after Alliance
president Sue Donoghue and
pols including Flatbush Councilman
Mathieu Eugene formally
announced its new
name.
“I felt really good, because I
usually only get to ride on the
boat,” Costas said.
First mate!
Terrace boy wins contest to rename
Prospect Park’s weed-eating boat
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