‘Sesame Street’ turns 45: 14 most controversial moments

‘Sesame Street’ first aired on Nov. 10, 1969. In its 45th year, the show (which is filmed right here in Astoria) still ranks as one of the highest-rated children’s programs and has more than 1.5 billion views on YouTube.

To mark the anniversary, we’ve compiled some of the show’s most controversial moments, from Mr. Hooper’s death in 1982 to Katy Perry’s, um, revealing performance in 2009.