Ed Koch Celebrates Bypass Operation with Big Steak Dinner

Back in the Chicago Bears' 80s heyday, there was a story (now debunked, alas) that quarterback Jim McMahon fed his offensive line dinner every weekend as a gesture of appreciation toward the people who kept him from getting killed. Former Mayor Ed Koch seems to have heeded that apocryphal example; the Times says he will take the doctors who attended him during his June heart bypass surgery to a big dinner. The punchline: the dinner's at Peter Luger! The giant steaks seem ill-advised for a heart patient, but Koch cardiologist Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum says he can handle it. Well, he was spry enough to robocall us for Melinda Katz yesterday ("In case you're wondering 'how I'm doin,'' the answer is very well"), and to press the flesh for Mayor Bloomberg today. He also keeps up his film reviews for the Downtown Express. Well, he never seemed to take-it-easy type. The Times story includes Koch's account of his post-operative hallucinations ("I thought I was captured by Japanese terrorists").