A day of celebration

Crowds across the U.S. today are celebrating the birthday of Abe Vigoda (shown above in this historic photograph, taken just before his State of the 12th Precint address of 1976).

New York City was the focal point of the day's festivities.
In a speech at Queens College, President Obama paid homage to the actor/humanitarian, saying "(Vigoda's) perpetual old age is a shining example of the new America."
Throngs of spectators poured in to hear the president's speech. Traffic in Queens was tied up for hours. The crowd was later estimated as somewhere between 12 and a million people.


At noon today, the Pope of Greenwich Village said a special mass in honor of Vigoda. Afterwards he remarked that Vigoda's service to the Greenwich Village community will never be forgotten.

Vigoda could not be reached for comment. A spokesperson for the actor said "Mr. Vigoda isn't feeling quite regular today so he felt he should stay home."