What a weenie! Mayor de Blasio can’t mustard up the time to officiate Wednesday’s annual weigh-in for the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. Instead City Hall’s top dog has private meetings all day across Iowa — in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Iowa City — where de Blasio is trying to play ketchup after his late entrance in the 2020 presidential primary. While former Mayors Bloomberg and Giuliani relished the chance to preside over the pre-contest weigh-in for the competing eaters, de Blasio only attended his first year in office. “Mike LOVED the hot dog contest weigh-in,” said Chris Coffey of Tusk Ventures, who attended several of them with Bloomberg while working for his administration. “De Blasio doesn’t love the quirks of the city. And now that he is campaigning outside of the city, he’s never been happier.” Bloomberg officiated the ceremony 11 of the 12 years he was in office. In 2005, he only missed the weigh-in because he was traveling to Singapore to lobby for the the Summer Olympics to come to New York. Giuliani was the first mayor to oversee the weigh-in, officiating at least three times toward the end of his administration. The weigh-in had been held at City Hall without Hizzoner for years before the mayor of New York became a fixture of the proceedings — along with some of the wurst hot dog puns that city speechwriters could come up with. After dropping 12 puns at the 2012 event, Bloomberg gave his frank assessment of their job: “That was really impressive. Who wrote this sh-t?" The one time de Blasio did attend, in 2014, he joked he was only in it for the free Nathan’s franks. “It’s highly competitive. People train all year. Some might say it’s so competitive, it’s a ‘dog eat dog’ atmosphere,” de Blasio cracked at the ceremony before eating a dog. “I have great writers. I’ll be here all week.” Despite saying he was “honored” to be part of a “great New York tradition,” de Blasio skipped every weigh-in since. Brooklyn BP Eric Adams – who’s considering a 2021 run for mayor – officiated in 2015, 2016 and 2017 at Borough Hall. “There’s some fun things you can do as an elected official and you don’t want folks to think you’re just all policies or politics — people want to like the person who is representing them,” Adams said. “I thought it was fun.” “Being cheerleader-in-chief for New York is an important part of being Mayor,” Coffey added. “Mike Bloomberg viewed that as part of the job, and he loved it.” The weigh-in ceremony was moved to the Empire State Building last year. Wednesday’s weigh-in will also be held at the skyscraper at 11 a.m. before the contest begins July 4 at 10:45 a.m. in Coney Island. “The Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Competition is an time-treasured tradition in New York City," de Blasio spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said. "We wish this year’s participants the best of luck and a Happy Fourth of July.” A spokesman for Nathan’s declined to comment.
Mayor de Blasio doesn’t relish chance to oversee hot dog contest weigh-in, skipping ceremony for fif
What a weenie! Mayor de Blasio can’t mustard up the time to officiate Wednesday’s annual weigh-in for the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. Instead City Hall’s top dog has private meetings all day across Iowa — in Cedar Rapids, Waterloo and Iowa City — where de Blasio is trying to play ketchup after his late entrance in the 2020 presidential primary. While former Mayors Bloomberg and Giuliani relished the chance to preside over the pre-contest weigh-in for the competing eaters, de Blasio only attended his first year in office. “Mike LOVED the hot dog contest weigh-in,” said Chris Coffey of Tusk Ventures, who attended several of them with Bloomberg while working for his administration. “De Blasio doesn’t love the quirks of the city. And now that he is campaigning outside of the city, he’s never been happier.” Bloomberg officiated the ceremony 11 of the 12 years he was in office. In 2005, he only missed the weigh-in because he was traveling to Singapore to lobby for the the Summer Olympics to come to New York. Giuliani was the first mayor to oversee the weigh-in, officiating at least three times toward the end of his administration. The weigh-in had been held at City Hall without Hizzoner for years before the mayor of New York became a fixture of the proceedings — along with some of the wurst hot dog puns that city speechwriters could come up with. After dropping 12 puns at the 2012 event, Bloomberg gave his frank assessment of their job: “That was really impressive. Who wrote this sh-t?" The one time de Blasio did attend, in 2014, he joked he was only in it for the free Nathan’s franks. “It’s highly competitive. People train all year. Some might say it’s so competitive, it’s a ‘dog eat dog’ atmosphere,” de Blasio cracked at the ceremony before eating a dog. “I have great writers. I’ll be here all week.” Despite saying he was “honored” to be part of a “great New York tradition,” de Blasio skipped every weigh-in since. Brooklyn BP Eric Adams – who’s considering a 2021 run for mayor – officiated in 2015, 2016 and 2017 at Borough Hall. “There’s some fun things you can do as an elected official and you don’t want folks to think you’re just all policies or politics — people want to like the person who is representing them,” Adams said. “I thought it was fun.” “Being cheerleader-in-chief for New York is an important part of being Mayor,” Coffey added. “Mike Bloomberg viewed that as part of the job, and he loved it.” The weigh-in ceremony was moved to the Empire State Building last year. Wednesday’s weigh-in will also be held at the skyscraper at 11 a.m. before the contest begins July 4 at 10:45 a.m. in Coney Island. “The Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Competition is an time-treasured tradition in New York City," de Blasio spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said. "We wish this year’s participants the best of luck and a Happy Fourth of July.” A spokesman for Nathan’s declined to comment.
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