NEW YORK (1010 WINS) After barking the vote, New Yorkers are getting ready for the 2nd ever Indoguration Day in the big city.
Simon the Basset Cattle Dog will officially become the new Honorary Dog Mayor of New York on Sunday, January 19th in a ceremony outside City Hall.
Simon and his person, Sophie Vershbow, visited the 1010 WINS newsroom and even got a special "1010 WINS Microphone to the City" from Morning Anchor Susan Richard. Check it out below:
The road to the top four-legged office in the boroughs was a ruff one, and in the end, Simon actually won on a double technicality. That was after he lost his semi-final round to Enzo the Shih Tzu, but then Enzo pulled out of the race the day before the final vote, due to overwhelming support for Bertram the Pomeranian by supporters of a meme coin named for the dog who was the spitting image of Paddington Bear.
The vote was delayed a week, and ended with Bertie conceding the race to Simon. That was after thousands of bots appeared to vote for him, and his person decided not to force a 22,000 vote recount.
On November 12, 2024, Simon was officially named Dog Mayor-elect, and Bertie, to be appointed Deputy Dog Mayor. Nine days later, Bert's person announced, to his 394,000 followers on Instagram, the devastating news that the eleven year old Pomeranian had died unexpectedly in his sleep.
Bertram was a rescue dog, adopted from a shelter in Oklahoma in 2013. His owner wrote online that he had helped her get through bouts of crippling depression following the deaths of both her fiance and then, a short time later, her mother.
The post garnered more than 6,000 responses including from Vershbow who expressed her condolences and from the Dog Mayor account which wrote, "Bertie and his devoted campaign momager Kathy were beloved in our community and represent the very best of what this project can be and accomplish."
It's not clear which dog might be named Deputy Dog Mayor, but Vershbow says Simon is ready for the top dog job and will spend his term advocating for animal rescue. He, himself, is a rescue from Dallas who was taken in by the New York-based group Hearts and Bones. He was being fostered by Vershbow who says it was love at first sight, and that he quickly became a 'foster-fail'.
You can follow Simon on Instagram at both @UpperWestSimon and @DogMayorNYC.