NYC Celebrates Ella Fitzgerald's 100th Birthday

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City is paying tribute to legendary jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald on the 100th anniversary of her birth.

Overlooking the city where "The First Lady of Song" gave both her first and last performance, Julie Menin, the Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, declared Tuesday "Ella Fitzgerald Day."

On hand for the event at the Rainbow Room was another legend, Tony Bennett, who performed "Our Love Is Here to Stay" in honor of his late friend.

"She was just a beautiful human being and so talented," Bennett said. "No one sang better than that. She was just one of a kind and she was adored by every musician in the world."

Students from the Sinatra School of the Arts, founded by Bennett, also sang at the ceremony.

"Ella Fitzgerald she is the definition of being an original female singer, and her originality inspired the rest of us to go for our dreams," one student said.

Fitzgerald died in 1996 at age 79.