STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Feb. 2, 2014, began like any other Groundhog Day at the Staten Island Zoo in West Brighton.
But on this day, as dignitaries surrounded then-mayor Bill De Blasio and a crowd gathered to celebrate Staten Island Chuck’s annual spring prognostication, something unexpected happened.
The groundhog squirmed in the mayor’s gloved hands and fell quickly to the ground.
At the time, the crowd didn’t know that it wasn’t Chuck at all. It was a 10-month-old stand-in groundhog named Charlotte. They laughed off the incident and the day proceeded as usual.
But she died a few days later. And though the Staten Island Zoo issued a statement saying it “appeared unlikely” that young Charlotte’s death was related to the events on Groundhog Day, many were skeptical and blamed the mayor for Charlotte’s untimely demise.
De Blasio faced scrutiny and became the butt of jokes citywide.
After taking a beating from animal rights activists when her son was photographed stepping on the family dog, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used an appearance on NBC’s “Today Show” to redirect the attention to de Blasio.
“He just, doggonit — he killed a groundhog when he dropped it last year,” Palin said during the nationally broadcast show, just weeks before Groundhog Day 2015.
That year, the Staten Island Zoo changed its Groundhog Day celebration protocol, and Chuck was required to remain in a clear plastic enclosure.
He can now only be removed from and held by his handler. After a successful visit between de Blasio and Chuck in 2015, the protocol is still followed today.
The groundhog was hidden underneath the enclosure during the 2015 ceremony and lifted through a small elevator — the “Chuck-a-vator.’’
To this day, the elevator remains aboveground while Chuck searches for his shadow within the safety of his enclosure.