With this kind of treatment, it’s no wonder Staten Island’s groundhog called for six more weeks of winter.
Mayor de Blasio dropped a squirming Charles G. Hogg during his first Groundhog Day ceremony Sunday at the Staten Island Zoo.
After the headfirst tumble, the weather-predicting Chuck saw his shadow and scurried back inside his heated wooden home, forecasting six more weeks of winter.
“Chuck likes the polar vortex,” de Blasio exclaimed to jeers from the crowd.
After the ceremony, the mayor likened the wriggling 10-pound critter to the Seattle Seahawks’ elusive and hard-charging running back — saying Chuck was “doing his Marshawn Lynch impression.”
“Staten Island Chuck was very rowdy this morning,” Hizzoner added. “But once he calmed down, I found him to be very friendly and a very appealing young animal.”
Mayors of New York have tussled before with members of the furry rodent world.
In 2009, the recalcitrant groundhog chomped on then-Mayor Bloomberg’s finger.
“That was a fun year,” recalled Amanda Davies, 18. “Now it’s steel-tipped gloves, the whole thing.”
Mom Gina Davies, 39, said she enjoyed this year’s event despite the dour prediction.
“It’s been a lot colder in the past,” she said of Sunday’s spring-like temps, which neared 60 degrees. “We’ve felt like ice sculptures in the past. This is a nice year.”
“It’s a big thing; you get up, you freeze, but you come because Chuck is the best,” Amanda Davies added.
This was the first time Groundhog Day — observed Feb. 2 — fell on Super Bowl Sunday.
Chuck’s more famous national counterpart, Punxsutawney Phil, also predicted six more weeks of winter. Phil’s prognostication came in the form of a poem read by local dignitaries in the Pennsylvania town.
“A Super Bowl winner I will not predict, but my weather forecast, you cannot contradict. That’s not a football lying beside me. It’s my shadow you see. So, six more weeks of winter it shall be!”
The annual tradition since 1886 relies on whether the groundhog sees his shadow or not. If he doesn’t, it will be an early spring.
With Joel Landau