Do not let today’s mild temperatures fool you. The Staten Island Zoo’s groundhog, Staten Island Chuck — the big city counterpart to Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil — saw his own shadow this morning, which means we get another six weeks of winter. Of course, it’s possible that Chuck’s forecasting skills were somehow affected by the fall he suffered immediately before making his annual prediction: Bill de Blasio, who presided over the ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo, dropped the marmot after calling for improved mayor-groundhog relations.
“Chuck and my predecessor didn’t always get along,” he said in reference to the time Chuck took a bite out of Michael Bloomberg’s finger. “But I’m hoping we can start a new day, a new relationship here. I’m reaching out a hand to Chuck and I hope he will consider shaking it rather than doing other things.” As you can see in this video shot by Politicker, Chuck doesn’t seem to be a fan of the new guy, either:
“We’re making peace. We’re making peace here. We’re all getting along. It’s all good Chuck,” De Blasio insisted after recovering the creature. Maybe next year.
