San Francisco Dedicates Trolley To Tony Bennett

The cable car dedicated to the late singer rolls past the landmark Fairmont hotel where the singer first performed the song that would forever tie him to the city.

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, says Arne Hansen, superintendent of cable car vehicle maintenance.

“Some people specifically wait for this car because they want to ride the Tony Bennett cable car just like they want to ride the Willie Mays car, which is Car 24,” he said.