The “geese police” may be coming to lay down the law in Hoboken, as the City Council will vote on a approve a contract with border collies known affectionately referred to as “geese police” to patrol local parks.
By Dan Israel/ Hudson County View
The contract with Geese Chasers North Jersey LLC would total $18,995 and would run for about a year – through April 7th, 2027.
“The City has identified an emergency need for geese control services at certain City parks including Stevens Park and Sinatra Park and the surrounding walkways,” the resolution says.
“Whereas [state statute] permit municipalities to award public contracts without public bidding when the vendor is an approved state contractor or part of an approved national cooperative.”
Geese Chasers is a state-approved contractor who is part of an approved national pricing cooperative. The resolution states that the scope of work includes daily maintenance and a spring 2026 egg addling service, “to maintain a geese-free environment.”
The work was deemed an emergency by Hoboken in order to address public health concerns regarding “excessive geese waste.”
2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher said this initiative is “clearly” and “definitely” needed, but added that they need to take their time in finding the appropriate vendor.
“We need to handle the geese, but we still need to do it in a humane way. Are we breaking eggs that actually have babies in it and not yolks? … As we’ve seen with the geese chasers out there, they, when the babies do come, the dogs will separate the babies from the parents, and that just shouldn’t be allowed,” she argued.
“The contract with Geese Chasers does include the egg addling. This is under the Fish and Wildlife Laws Regulation,” replied Assistant Business Administrator Diane Fortunato.
Per those statutes, Geese Chasers should not be separating hatched baby geese from their mothers, Fortunato added, noting that they can have that conversation with the vendor.
“My understanding is that the eggs have to be taken before the embryo develops, so they pick up eggs and look at them, and if they have already been developed, they put them back down.”
Fisher took issue with the timing, stating this should have been done weeks or months ago when the goose eggs had not formed embryos yet.
“I look out my window and I see nests and I know where they are in the process and the females sitting on nests. Had we don’t this a couple weeks ago, the nest would have just had eggs without embryos in it,” Fisher declared.
“But now, because … I think it’s only 20 days or 30 days for them to hatch, they’re sitting on eggs that actually have … babies or little geese in them. So that makes me nervous they’re going to be cracking open these half-grown eggs.”
Fortunato reiterated that the city can discuss processes with Geese Chasers to get a better understanding.
Fisher inquired about coverage areas, noting that the southern waterfront and the Maxwell are the two biggest areas of concern when it comes to geese, to which Fortunato confirmed this contract was just for city parks.
“For the Maxwell waterfront, the park O&M board did approve their portion of the contract with Geese Chasers as well. So there is some consistency in services being provided,” Fortunato continued.
”While Maxwell Place on the Hudson has approved a separate contract with Geese Chasers for the same services, the South Waterfront Corporation has a three-year contract currently with another vendor.”
However, Fortunato said that they have already conveyed that they need to increase geese control to a higher frequency daily.
Fisher questioned if any thought had been given to other ways to address the geese, to which Fortunato underscored that the city has flight control applications on the books as part of the landscaping for Maxwell and South Waterfront.
Despite that fact, the city is still limited by state laws and guidelines.
“By law, we cannot trap them, remove them, …use any sort of lethal ways of getting rid of them. And we do not classify under the state laws for the removal either. So unfortunately, we do have to follow Fish and Wildlife laws and do this in a humane manner,” Fortunato explained.
Fisher argued it was fortunately, not unfortunately, that Hoboken had to abide by state law when it comes to dealing with the geese.
Fortunato clarified “Unfortunately for those that want them to not be in our parks, but they are here.”
1st Ward Councilman Paul Presinzano said Pier A and Pier C needed particular attention, noting that geese services there fell under the other contract with the Southern Waterfront Corporation.
He called for more coordination between the entities since the services provided are very similar, utilizing border collies and flight control applications among other techniques.
“I walked by yesterday. I don’t know how people were sitting on Pier A. It was disgusting. And I’ve had massive complaints from local in there, that … frequent the park walking around. They see it all the time … The geese police, I could call them, I would say keep them there 24/7, but they have a different service.”
Fortunato quipped that city will have a conversation with the contractor for Pier A and Pier C to increase the number of visits.
In closing, Presinzano suggested that after that three-year contract is up, that the Southern Waterfront Corporation switch to Geese Chasers so that residents don’t have to call different hotlines for geese control depending on where they live.
The Hoboken council will convene tomorrow at City Hall, 94 Washington St., at 7 p.m. for their regular meeting that will also stream on their YouTube page.
