New York’s Staten Island. Staten Island Chuck, the four-legged prognosticator, prophesied that we will have an early spring for the masses, despite the cold weather.
Shortly after the event started at 7:30 a.m., Chuck (also known as Charles G. Hogg) was welcomed by more than 150 followers as he delivered the news while sitting inside a hollowed log in a special cage at the Staten Island Zoo.
The groundhog and meteorological science can live together. It’s crucial to hear both. Ashlee Gervasi, a resident of Tottenville and a student meteorologist at Rutgers University, made a joke. We’ll match up with him because we have our own strategies.
Staten Island Zoo scenes from Groundhog Day 2025. February 2, 2025, Sunday. Jason Paderon/Staten Island Advance Paderon, JasonPaderon, Jason
Januaryio Garces, a Brooklyn resident who was pleased to see a rodent other than a rat, joined Gervasi.
There are more active animals on Staten Island than in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, there are a lot of overweight people and rats, as well as people who consume pizza and other things. I think these groundhogs are a little more interesting. These rodents are superior.
Cara S. Liander (who also works as a roastmaster) is a theater star from Staten Island!and James McKeon hosted the ceremony for the first time this year. Ed Burke, the chief of staff at the Zoo in West Brighton and a former Staten Island Deputy Borough President, is typically given this distinction.
At the Staten Island Zoo on February 2, 2025, Cara S. Launder and James McKeon pose with Tottenville Tony. (Jillian Delaney/Staten Island Advance)Jillian Delaney/Staten Island Advance
I thought it was the highest honor anyone could receive from Staten Island when we were asked to perform the ceremony. Liander added, “I was really, really happy to do it.”
Peter, Liander’s uncle, accompanied his niece to the zoo early in the morning.
Before Chuck’s big moment, McKeon, who was feeling good after Chuck delivered his prediction, introduced the audience to Tottenville Tony, a groundhog puppet. Chuck joked that Tony is his cousin. According to McKeon, the puppet is a prop from the musical Staten Island.
New Guests and Lifelong Supporters
Lucy Debeppo, a volunteer at the Zoo and a lifelong Staten Islander, attended the ceremony, which also happened to be her 103rd birthday, continuing her yearly custom.
Lucy Debeppo, 103, observes Groundhog Day 2025 at the Staten Island Zoo from the audience. February 2, 2025, Sunday. Jason Paderon/Staten Island Advance Paderon, JasonPaderon, Jason
Debeppo recalls the late 1930s, when the Zoo was just being constructed. With her grandson at her side, she sat in a wheelchair toward the front of the crowd. There was nothing preventing her from taking part in the custom.
Marissa Bujka, a lifelong resident of Staten Island, attended the event for her first Staten Island Chuck Groundhog Day with her kids, Carlo and Sophia.
According to Marissa, they were more excited about it than I was. We hurried over because they woke up better than they would have for school, and we are eager to see them.
The children believed that there would be more winter rather than an early spring, which aligned with Chuck’s predicted forecast.
Staten Island Zoo scenes from Groundhog Day 2025. February 2, 2025, Sunday. Jason Paderon/Staten Island Advance Paderon, JasonPaderon, Jason
Sal, 8, Max, 6, and Nicholas, 3, three brothers from Staten Island, were also bundled up to visit Chuck with their father. Sal would have told the furry weatherman, “Please make it spring!” if he had the chance to speak with Chuck before to his big appearance. Not to be scared of his shadow, either.
Attending the ceremony and wearing their crowns were Miss Richmond County, Miss Richmond County Teen, Miss Staten Island, and Miss Staten Island Teen.
On February 2, 2025, Miss Richmond County Teen Chloe Wong, Miss Staten Island Teen Nadia Anwar, and Miss Staten Island Madison Gattullo pose during the Groundhog Day celebrations at the Staten Island Zoo. (Jillian Delaney/Staten Island Advance)Jillian Delaney/Staten Island Advance
Being up here with all of these amazing people and being able to represent a community like this is a true honor. Only a distinction. Really, there aren’t any other words for it. “You have the community and the children coming and singing,” said Scarlett DeWitt, Miss Richmond County. Since there is no sense of community like Staten Island, there is no location like it. You have every representation you can imagine, and all these elementary and middle school children are coming to see a groundhog? Where in the world is that? That is not visible to you.
Elected officials take the stage
During the ceremony this morning, Staten Island’s elected officials were beaming as they interacted with the audience and performed on stage.
Staten Island Zoo scenes from Groundhog Day 2025. February 2, 2025, Sunday. Jason Paderon/Staten Island Advance Paderon, JasonPaderon, Jason
In attendance were representatives from the offices of Governor Kathy Hochul and State Senator Jessica Scarcella-Spanton (D North Shore), as well as Representative Nicole Malliotakis (R Staten Island/South Brooklyn), Assemblyman Michael Tannousis (R East Shore/South Brooklyn), Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R Mid-Island), Assemblyman Charles Fall (D North Shore/Battery Park), and Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks (D North Shore).
The Assemblyman Fall, speaking in the third person, said, “We’re hoping for early spring, even though Charles Fall loves the fall.” This place gives you a feeling of belonging.
Many Staten Island students from Prall Intermediate School (I.S. 27), Susan E. Wagner High School, and P.S. 29 took part in the Groundhog Day celebrations.
On February 2, 2025, Wagner High School students are prepared to follow Staten Island Chuck’s prophesy at the Staten Island Zoo. (Jillian Delaney/Staten Island Advance)Jillian Delaney/Staten Island Advance
For the next forty-five days, Wagner High School students will be closely monitoring Chuck’s forecast to see if the cherished animal was right this year.
According to Robert Fendrick, the pupils brought their hand-drawn calendar to the celebrations, which they will use to record the temperatures that the high school’s cutting-edge weather station records.
At the Zoo, this was Fendrick’s third Groundhog Day. Every year, he invites a fresh group of Wagner students to the event, including Phoenix Garcia and Zaimah Chaudhry, and teaches AP Environmental Science in addition to the agriculture elective.
Staten Island Zoo scenes from Groundhog Day 2025. February 2, 2025, Sunday. Jason Paderon/Staten Island Advance Paderon, JasonPaderon, Jason
Garcia was rooting for an early spring, while Chaudhry adamantly said Chuck is better than his competition, the very popular Punxsutawney Phil, of Pennsylvania.
I.S. 27 students offered fun facts and jokes about groundhogs to the crowd, which inspired some chuckles.
And who could overlook I.S. 27’s lovely rendition of Shadowphobia?
Island Staten Chuck predicts an early spring! February 2, 2025, Sunday. Jason Paderon/Staten Island AdvancePaderon, Jason
A Decades Long Beef
Chuck and Phil, the two fuzzy forecasters, go head-to-head for accurate predictions each year on Feb. 2.
Chuck has an astounding rate of accuracy compared to Phil, who predicted that we would experience another six weeks of winter.
Staten Island s prognosticator boasts about an80% accuracy ratefrom his predictions spanning back to 1981, according to theStormFax Weather Almanac, while Phil has an overall accuracy rate of just39% over 135 years.
Includinglast year s early spring forecast (bing!), Chuck s extended winter-or-early spring predictions have been on point for much of the last 15 years. After being wrong in 2009, the same year he bit former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, our groundhog slipped up in 2017, whenstudents at PS 45 who tracked Chuck s prediction said he was wrong that year.
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