Riders can climb 'halfway to the stars' on San Francisco cable car dedicated to late Tony Bennett
The cable car dedicated to the late Tony Bennett rolls past the landmark Fairmont hotel where the singer first performed the song that would forever tie him to San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A cable car recently dedicated to the late Tony Bennett rolls past the landmark Fairmont hotel where the singer in 1961 first performed the song that would forever tie him to San Francisco.
San Francisco officials on Valentine's Day dedicated one of the city's iconic cable cars to Bennett, whose “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” included a line about "the city where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars.” He died at age 96 last summer.
The song was an enormous hit and Bennett returned to the city often, even appearing with the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein when she was mayor to toast the rebuild of the cable system in 1984. His statue is on the front lawn of the Fairmont San Francisco, and a short street by the hotel is named for him.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has 42 cable cars, of which four are dedicated to individuals, including baseball's former center fielder Willie Mays, according to Arne Hansen, superintendent of cable car vehicle maintenance.
