Did Bloomberg Put His Foot in His Mouth?

Today, Mr. Bloomberg is scheduled to meet with angry relatives of the detective, James Zadroga, to try to undo the damage he caused last week by saying he was not a hero. Although a New Jersey pathologist concluded in 2006 that Mr. Zadroga’s death was directly related to his hundreds of hours of work on the smoldering World Trade Center pile, New York City’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, rejected that finding. He concluded that misuse of prescription medication was the culprit.

Dr. Hirsch’s finding has come under attack from other experts, and Mr. Bloomberg’s remarks — in which he said that “science says this was not a hero” — came amid a spirited defense of a member of his administration. But facing, as he so often has, outrage and charges of insensitivity from a grieving family, Mr. Bloomberg quickly softened his stance, though stopping short of the apology the relatives demanded.

Whether Mr. Bloomberg, who has a terrier-like tendency to dig in on his positions, will apologize today remains to be seen. But it is clear that the proudly contrarian, politically incorrect, potty-mouthed guy from the Wall Street trading floor still lurks close to the surface. At a public school in Brooklyn on Tuesday, for instance, after answering questions from a group of third graders, Mr. Bloomberg warned of the need to “reduce the amount of crap that we put into the air.” (The children had by that time left the room.)