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Pizza-Eating Goat Causing MacDougal Street Mayhem, Cops Say

Cocoa the goat chowed down on pizza at Famous Famiglia in Midtown on March 8, 2012.
Cocoa the goat chowed down on pizza at Famous Famiglia in Midtown on March 8, 2012.
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DNAinfo/Leslie Albrecht

GREENWICH VILLAGE — The pizza-eating goat is back — and he's causing trouble on his strolls through the Village, police said.

Cocoa the goat, who turned heads earlier this year when DNAinfo.com New York spotted him snacking on pizza in Midtown's Famous Famiglia pizzeria, has been visiting the Village several times a week to scarf slices and see the sights, her owner Cyrus Fakroddin said. 

But the 3-year-old goat, who prefers city streets to farm life, has been tying up traffic on MacDougal Street, police said.

The goat has been spotted being walked down the iconic Village street "on a leash like a dog" at least three times in recent months, triggering a slowdown of traffic as cars stop to gawk, Capt. Raffaele Petti said at the Sixth Precinct Community Council meeting Wednesday.

Cyrus Fakroddin first got a goat in 2006 to clear poison ivy from his yard. His pet goat Cocoa is a major part of his life now.
Cyrus Fakroddin first got a goat in 2006 to clear poison ivy from his yard. His pet goat Cocoa is a major part of his life now.
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YouTube/ITNNews

Fakroddin, a pharmaceutical company scientist who lives in Summit, N.J., has not been ticketed because he has papers for the animal and has obeyed the law, Petti said. 

Fakroddin — who has been seen several times this year in Manhattan with Cocoa, including the pizza-eating sighting and a trip on the subway — said he has been stopped by police multiple times and is happy to cooperate if the goat is drawing too much attention. 

"I don't want to ruin a good thing," he told DNAinfo. "I'll move along if we're causing too much of a disruption." 

But the primary reaction the animal evokes is glee, he said.

"She puts a smile on everyone's face, and I see people's faces change from having a bad day to being really happy," he said. 

Fakroddin, who first owned a goat in 2006 to clear poison ivy from his yard, said Cocoa's favorite destination in the Village is Joe's Pizza, where she likes plain slices. Her owner likes to simply walk the neighborhood's streets.

"I just meet all kinds of people when I go to the Village — everyone from celebrities to CEOs of companies," he said. "And [having Cocoa with me] is such a great social thing. If i'm with Cocoa, everyone talks to me." 

The goat, who sleeps inside Fakroddin's house, has helped her owner get free taxi rides by drivers who want to take photos of the animal in the car. She's even helped him get dates. 

"She's totally a chick magnet," he said.