Barbara Walters Day will be celebrated on May 16th in New York City. Mayor Bill de Blasio claimed the day for a celebration of the talk show host and long time TV personality, who will leave it all behind and retire on that very same day. The New York City mayor and his wife Chirlane McCray visited the ladies of The View on Monday and de Blasio handed Walters a proclamation announcing her very special upcoming day. The audience gave her a standing ovation when the proclamation was read.

All this took place prior to the interview the panelists on The View had with Mayor de Blasio and his wife. Walters seemed far more interested in interviewing the couple than she did on lauding her upcoming retirement. The View will celebrate Barbara Walters for an entire week prior to her retirement on the 16th of May–also her final appearance on The View. All of the show’s prior and present co-hosts will be on hand as part of the celebration, as noted in the video clip above. It will be fun to see who turns up as surprise guests to help wish the beloved host well.

RT to congratulate @BarbaraJWalters for May 16th being proclaimed "Barbara Walters Day" in the city of New York!

— The View (@theviewtv) April 21, 2014

In addition to The View’s week long celebration, ABC News has a huge one in store as well. They will name their New York City broadcast headquarters the Barbara Walters Building.

Barbara Walters got her start writing “women’s interest stories” for The TODAY Show back in 1962. It was during these segments that it became quite clear to producers that she had a gift for interviewing.

It is very exciting to hear about the upcoming Barbara Walters Day on May 16th. If anyone in broadcast journalism deserves a day of her own in New York City, Walters does. Will you be tuning in to The View that week as they bid adieu to this amazing journalist?

Image via YouTube