One of my fondest New York memories is of the lunchtime mini-concert legendary singer Tony Bennett gave on top of the Radio City Music Hall marquee in 1996, celebrating the release of his Here's To The Ladies cd.
NYPD had anticipated a crowd large enough that they closed one lane of traffic on 6th Avenue. However, so many people came to cheer their native son (Bennett grew up in Queens), that the entire street was eventually closed to accommodate the growing lunchtime crowd.
It was pretty awesome and when the concert was done, I ran right over to Musicland (because this was back in the day when you still bought music in stores) and purchased the CD on my way back to the office.
Yesterday, San Francisco mayor Ed Lee declared it Tony Bennett Day, in honor of the 50th anniversary since he first performed the classic I Left My Heart In San Francisco (at the Fairmont Hotel's Venetian Room). Bennett drew a HUGE crowd to city hall, and even though he didn't perform the song he's best known for, the love that was being shown to this adopted native son was just as large as it was on that similarly sunny day back in 1996.
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