Today Is Al Roker Appreciation Day
Attention New Yorker City residents: Today is officially Al Roker Appreciation Day.
That's right, the weatherman's 60th birthday celebration included an on air surprise from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who popped by Rockefeller Center to present Roker with a gold-framed proclamation awarding him his very own day.
Wednesday's Today Show celebration was full of special tributes to Roker, including a "Happy Birthday" message from Vice President Joe Biden, a special called "Six Lessons in Six Decades," salutes from colleagues, and even pictures from Bloomsbury Farm in Atkins, Iowa where someone decided to celebrate the special man by carving a 10-acre likeness of his face into a corn maze. Yes, this happened.
But no birthday salutation was more surprising than De Blasio's, who went back and forth with Roker this winter after the weatherman criticized the newly elected Mayor for not closing New York City public schools during a February snowstorm.
"Talk about a bad prediction," Roker tweeted after de Blasio decided not to close New York City public schools in February. "Long range DiBlasio forecast: 1 term."
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“It's a different thing to run a city than to give weather on TV,” de Blasio responded.
Well it looks like the two have officially buried the hatchet. And on TV no less.
Emerging from behind a blowup likeness of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Roker's favorite movie Ghostbusters, de Blasio and Al smiled and hugged it all out.
"Come here you," the Mayor said, wrapping his arms around the jovial weatherman.
"On behalf of all 8.4 million New Yorkers I am declaring today Al Roker Appreciation Day," de Blasio said gleefully. "The people of this city love you," the Mayor added.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/08/today-is-al-roker-appreciation-day/378873/
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