While babysitting at age 10, I watched my very first naked interview with a mid-op transsexual, thanks to the Manhattan cable access show "Midnight Blue" on Channel J. Native NYC boy Al Goldstein was the repulsive host of this formidable and filthy show, as well as the founder of "Screw" magazine, which sold over 140,000 copies weekly at its height. A couple of years ago his company, Milky Way productions, went bankrupt; Goldstein lost his 11 million dollar fortune, as well as his 11-foot statue of a raised middle finger. Classy. In addition, he had to part with his six-story town house on East 61st Street, did time at Rikers for harassing a former employee, and then got three years’ probation for harassing his third wife. And to continue his downward spiral ... last year he got busted shoplifting three books from Barnes and Noble on 66th and Broadway. His 29 year old wife (his fifth marriage - the daughter of a Hindu priest) is afflicted with Crohn’s disease. His Harvard law grad son won't speak to him. He spent a chunk of time in homeless shelters, supposedly until good friend Penn Jillette (the non-silent member of Penn and Teller, who recently had a baby girl named Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette) started paying rent on an apartment for him. Things really started looking bright when he got a job as a greeter at Second Avenue Deli for $10 an hour. Most recently he worked in corporate accounts at New York City Bagel. I called the bagel store today, asking if he still worked there, and the guy who answered the phone couldn't even understand my question. Check it out yourself at 1228 2nd Ave between 64th and 65th. Then you can stop by Serendipity for Frrrozen hot chocolate, and take a ride on the Roosevelt Island tram. Tramtastic! (See recipe for Serendipity's Frrrozen Hot Chocolate at bottom of this page. I've made it - it's excellent.)

We're really swinging this month, moving the party to White Rabbit, owned by Jim Chu (Stuyvesant). Rabbits don't make me think of Hugh Hefner, but they do remind me of my first visit to Coney Island in the 1600s, trekking through the sand in wooden shoes with my Dutch friends. Y'see, popular theory suggests that Coney Island got its name from the Dutch, who called it Konijn Eiland (Rabbit Island) due to its wild and crazy rabbit population. The area was overrun with these little critters. Rabbit hunting was common until resorts were developed in the area.

Here are a few other theories as to how Coney Island got its name: