Mayor de Blasio couldn’t get his groundhog killing claws anywhere near the 2015 version of Staten Island Chuck, who was kept safe in a Plexiglas enclosure while making his annual winter prediction on Monday.
The soothsaying rodent – who was played by stand-in Charlotte during last year’s fatal forecasting ritual – promised an early start to spring while under the new protective measures ordered by the US Department of Agriculture.
“This new approach will be safer for both species,” joked de Blasio, who dropped the critter last year — causing injuries that led to its death in a covered up scandal first reported by The Post.
“Now, there’s been a very concerted effort over the last few weeks – teams of animal behavior experts, and scientists have consulted from all over the country, the National Institute of Health has weighed in on my behalf – the National Institute of Groundhog Health has weighed in as well,” de Blasio added.
“I think we got NASA involved. We’ve had a lot of people working – and based on consultations with the zoo – has come up with a new – what was it? – new, progressive, exciting approach to groundhog diplomacy on this day.”
Even Staten Island Deputy Borough President Ed Burke joked that about half the people in the crowd showed up just to see if something would go wrong.
“Please take heart, there will be no surprises. 2015 is not a leap year. He’s our hands on and today hands free mayor,” he quipped.
But de Blasio didn’t make it through Groundhog Day blunder-free. His office tweeted out a picture of the annual ritual this morning, but wrongly noted that Chuck had seen his shadow.
“Groundhog Chuck saw his shadow this morning,” his office said in the tweet, which was taken down after roughly 25 minutes.
Sophia Lombardo, 10, who was one of three PS 29 students to ring a bell before Chuck made his appearance, was relieved the rodent was safe and sound in his enclosure.
“Last year when (the mayor) dropped him, I got a little scared. I liked his habitat now because it keeps him safe,” Sophia said.
At the ceremony, Burke also took a gentle dig at forecasters who predicted an epic blizzard last week.
“(Chuck) has the best record if all — an 80 percent accuracy rate, and he doesn’t even use the European model,” he said, referring to meteorologists who used off-the-mark European data to predict the storm in the city.
According to a German legend, if a groundhog sees its shadow on Feb. 2, winter will last six more weeks. If not, an early spring is expected.
Meanwhile, the news from Pennsylvania was less cheery as Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow at Gobbler’s Knob and predicted six more weeks of winter.
Additional reporting by Yaron Steinbuch