Have you ever wanted to see Mayor Bloomberg call local folk hero Staten Island Chuck a "son of a bitch"? Here's your lucky day! CityRoom noticed that on the Daily News' YouTube video of the Staten Island Zoo Groundhog Day ceremony, Bloomberg is ecstatic about a new device that helps push Chuck out of his house for his prediction, with the mayor saying, "That was so much better than having to reach in and let the little son of a bitch bite you." The News followed up with its own story about its video, removed the YouTube version (presumably to screw over the NY Times), and offered up its own unembeddable version of the video on a Daily News player.
At a press conference today, Bloomberg claimed not to remember criticizing Chuck, but added, "I think it's also true that you really don't have the standing to talk about this unless you have been personally bitten by a groundhog. Those of us who have [been bitten] have an ability to understand the issue, to address it clearly, to assign responsibility and to try to ask God for forgiveness for the rodents that do these dastardly things."
