New York ? He gorged, and gulped, and nearly gagged.

And then, in a last-minute feeding frenzy, Takeru Kobayashi of Japan the Michael Jordan of hot dog eating defended his world title Thursday by gobbling a world record 50 1/2 franks in just 12 minutes.

Takeru Kobayashi, center, of Nagano, Japan, passes the 35th hot dog and bun mark as Oleg Zhornitsky, left, of the Brooklyn borough of New York, and Eric Booker of Copiague, N.Y., join him in the competition at Nathan's Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island.

Antacid, anyone?

The reed-thin Kobayashi plowed through an average of one hot dog every 14.25 seconds to ensure he would retain the mustard yellow championship belt in the 87th competition at Nathan’s Famous in Coney Island.

The 5-foot-7 Kobayashi, despite the 94-degree heat and stifling humidity, managed to barely best his 2001 mark of 50 hot dogs.

As he did last year, the 24-year-old Kobayashi employed the “Solomon method” snapping the hot dogs in half, then simultaneously shoving both pieces into his mouth.

Since 1996, the Japanese have dominated the annual Fourth of July competition.

Before the contest, Kobayashi was the lightest of the 20 competitors, weighing in at 113 pounds. After his record-setting performance, his weight had ballooned to 129, Shea said.