Groundhog Day 2014 is one that Staten Island will not be repeating. Via the NY Post:

Mayor de Blasio won’t be killing any more groundhogs — zoo handlers are forbidding the butter-fingered mayor from holding the critter at the annual shadow-sighting ceremony on Feb. 2, The Post has learned.
The ban came after The Post first revealed that the groundhog de Blasio fumbled and dropped last year died a week later of internal injuries — and then Staten Island Zoo officials covered up the death. . . .
“No one will be allowed to touch the groundhog,” one zoo insider briefed on the new policy told The Post.
The groundhog will be placed in a comfy glass or plexiglass box for the ceremony, sources said.

That is good news for Staten Island’s​ groundhog population. After all, consider de Blasio’s​ reaction to last year’s mishap: