Goshen gets thrust into the presidential race

Goshen made international news last week when a story from presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. involving falcons, bears, and ill-timing went viral.

Last week Kennedy posted a video on social media describing a falconry trip he took in the Hudson Valley back in 2014. The story was initially written about in the New Yorker, but soon swept the nation. In the video, he told Roseanne Barr that he witnessed a woman driving a van and hitting and killing a passing black bear. Instead of leaving the bear for the proper authorities to dispose of, he took it with him, claiming he was going to skin it and put the meat in his freezer. That trip reportedly took place in Goshen. It is unclear if the bear was from Goshen as well.

Kennedy went on to describe taking the bear, spending time with friends while still in possession of the bear, and then worrying that the dead animal would soon go bad. So he decided to bring it to Central Park to stage a bike accident involving the animal. The bear was found the next day and baffled New Yorkers. After all, how could a black bear that was hit by a car end up in Central Park?

Illegal possession of a bear does carry penalties in New York State, but the statute of limitations is one year. So Kennedy will not have to face any penalties for revealing this nearly decade old story.

Separately from the story, Kennedy lost a court case this week to have his name appear on New York’s ballot as a presidential candidate after a judge ruled Monday that he was not a New York resident, and instead lived in California. He reportedly used a New York address in his nominating petitions to get on the presidential ballot. The ruling is expected to be appealed. As part of that court case, he did point out that his falconry license was from New York as well.

Goshen is home to a lot of amazing sights and locations. It has historical buildings, museums, horse racing, shops, restaurants, hiking, farm/agri-tourism, golf, LEGOLAND... and apparently it is also a great place for high-profile political candidates to come and enjoy falconry!