Results tagged “statenislandzoo”

After spending an awkward Groundhog Day together, Staten Island Chuck wants Mayor Bloomberg to know that he's sorry. The Staten Island Advance reports that the Staten Island Zoo's resident groundhog "sent some Valentine's Day affection toward Mayor Michael Bloomberg to apologize for biting him during a Groundhog Day celebration... To mark the mayor's birthday, which coincides with V-Day, and to get back on good terms with the man who holds the purse strings for a portion of the Zoo budget, Chuck offered Bloomberg a heart-shaped box filled with chocolates as an olive branch."

After Staten Island Chuck, the Staten Island Zoo's weather predicting (on Groundhog Day, of course) groundhog, bit Mayor Bloomberg, causing a storm of media attention, the NY Times had to go back to the scene of the chomp: "He went rampaging across the stage in the zoo’s auditorium, knocking over a prop-size statue of a giraffe" and when he encountered a photo of Bloomberg, "Chuck rubbed his lips on the corner of the picture frame. He was not making nice — it looked as if he had bared his teeth." Still, Chuck's keeper, Douglas Schwartz, believes Chuck acted out because the small animal believed Bloomberg was taking away his food, a theory we believe since the mayor kept taking away Chuck's cob of corn. The zoo may trade this Chuck in for a younger edition (the zoo limits the groundhogs' stints to 3-5 years), but this Chuck has his fans—check out the Viva Chuck t-shirts.

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, the day we rely on furry animals to predict whether we'll see another 6 weeks of winter or an early spring. Sure, Punxsatawney, PA-residing Phil has been celebrated in the 1993 classic, Groundhog Day, but New Yorkers have Staten Island Chuck, who spends half the week at the Staten Island Zoo and the other half at his keeper's house (he commutes by public transit!).

Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro, and some young constituents, unveiled two new 10-ton fish tanks at the St. George ferry terminal. Molinaro said the tanks will liven up people's commutes; in July, he told the Advance, "It's very soothing because we live on an Island and it's very pleasant, so it fits perfectly."

Several hundred people, including Gothamist, gathered at the Staten Island Zoo early this morning to hear a well-fed rodent's forecast for the remainder of the winter. After the Tottenville High School chorus entertained the crowd local dignitaries and elected officials were introduced. Then, the moment everyone was waiting for. A Brownie troop member was enlisted to coax Staten Island Chuck out of his house with the aid of a few peanuts.

Hoorah! WNBC has a clip of Sue Simmons's Groundhog Impression, 2007 edition from yesterday's newscast. How did the WNBC anchor start imitating woodland creatures?

Sue says her imitation of the groundhog face actually began before she came to New York, when she was a reporter in New Haven. On Groundhog Day one year, she ended a live shot with the groundhog face, and for weeks, people kept coming up to her asking for a repeat performace.

The groundhog survey says we'll have an early spring. Staten Island Chuck, along with Punxsutawney Phil (pictured above), predicted an early spring. However, Holtsville Hal on Long Island saw his shadow for six more weeks of winter, but we'll assume he just woke up on the wrong side of the burrow this morning. As for today's weather, we'll have another post up about that in a bit.

These days, the most famous Staten Islander we know is Staten Island Chuck (sorry, Molinari!), the Staten Island Zoo's groundhog. Groundhog Day is just three weeks away, and the NY Times looks at the preparation the zoo and Chuck are doing in the run-up. Cue the montage sequence of Staten Island Chuck in training!

Staten Island Chuck, NYC's own weather-prognosticating groundhog, did not see his shadow this morning which means an early spring. And in keeping with the trend in the past few years, Punxsutawny Phil differed, seeing his shadow and dooming the Northeast to more cold weather. Well, if it's cold weather the way it has been the past few weeks, we'll take it! What's sad is that apparently people were booing Phil's forecast - he's just a groundhog, people! He rather spend his time digging up holes in your yard than working out the meteorology.