De Blasio won't kill innocent groundhog this year

From SI Live:

Mayor Bill de Blasio won't risk dropping Staten Island Chuck again this Groundhog Day.

Three years after a potentially-fatal fumble on his first Groundhog Day as mayor, de Blasio will skip the Staten Island Zoo's annual ceremony for the second year in a row.

"The Mayor's on Staten Island as much as possible and that will continue in 2017," de Blasio spokeswoman Jessica Ramos said. "We doubt the groundhog will be heartbroken."

The mayor's office didn't say what de Blasio would be doing on Thursday instead of attending the 7 a.m. ceremony.

The Staten Island Zoo said Public Advocate Letitia James will officiate instead of de Blasio.

This is what she gets paid to do?

From NBC:

A Manhattan congresswoman is accusing Mayor de Blasio of not supporting her efforts to bring two pandas from China to New York City.

In August, Rep. Carolyn Maloney visited panda preserves in China with hopes of bringing two of the bears to the Central Park Zoo. After the trip, Chinese officials asked for a letter from the mayor or governor supporting her plan, Maloney said Sunday morning on John Catsimatidis’ radio show on AM 970.

"The mayor was not interested," Maloney said.

She then approached Gov. Cuomo who sent a letter earlier this month in support of bringing the pandas to the Big Apple, she said. She is now awaiting a response from Chinese officials.

According to the New York Post, though, a city official said that neither the Central Park Zoo nor Bronx Zoo were interested in housing the pandas, which are "incredibly expensive to maintain."

A spokeswoman from the mayor's office said regarding Maloney's pandas there were "more pressing concerns for New York City at the moment."

Ya think?

Pandas a priority for Carolyn Maloney

From the Daily News:

A New York congresswoman is hoping a pair of giant pandas will become the city’s next great attraction.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan) will travel to a nature preserve in China next month to explore the possibility of bringing two giant pandas to Gotham. “The greatest city in the world deserves two pandas,” she told the Daily News. “They’re a symbol of good luck.”