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Happy (Surprise) 53rd Birthday, Mr. Mayor

By Mark Konkol | November 29, 2012 5:29pm | Updated on November 29, 2012 5:41pm
 Mayor Rahm Emanuel got blindsided on his 53rd birthday when staff threw him a surprise party. The mayor was joking — allegedly — when he told everyone in the room they were "fired," sources said.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel got blindsided on his 53rd birthday when staff threw him a surprise party. The mayor was joking — allegedly — when he told everyone in the room they were "fired," sources said.
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City Hall

On Thursday, Chicago’s workaholic boss, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, spent his 53rd birthday at work.

At public events, Emanuel successfully avoided getting questioned by pesky reporters about getting a year older, but he couldn't escape a City Hall birthday celebration.

Emanuel — a guy who prefers certainty over surprises — got blindsided when he walked into an 11th-floor office for a mid-afternoon “snow update” — a ruse referencing the mayor’s increasingly white mane — to find the room filled with his staff bearing gifts.

When everyone shouted "surprise," Emanuel started to walk out of the room in a huff, but stopped short to say they were "all fired." He was allegedly joking about that, City Hall sources said.

It was a short party. Staffers gave the mayor balloons and a giant card. They carved up two pecan pies and an Eli’s cheesecake. But no one dared to sing happy birthday.

Then, Mayor Emanuel, of course, went back to work.