Sometimes, they’re the two hardest words to say.
After five days of refusing to say he was sorry, Mayor Bloomberg finally broke down and apologized to Dr. Robert Atkins’ widow yesterday for his blistering verbal attack on the deceased diet guru.
Bloomberg took his act of contrition – conveyed through the media – a step further, inviting Veronica Atkins out for a steak dinner, carb-free, of course.
“While talking to firefighters about the challenges of losing weight, the Mayor made a joke which upset Veronica Atkins,” said Ed Skyler, Bloomberg’s press secretary.
“He never intended to insult her late husband or offend her and is sorry that has been the result.”
Skyler closed the statement by using a bit of wit – the original reason why the mayor landed in hot water.
“In order to make it up to Mrs. Atkins, the Mayor would like to invite her to a steak dinner – no potatoes.”
Richard Rothstein, a spokesman for Veronica Atkins, couldn’t be reached to see if she’d accept the apology or the dinner.
But the mayor’s public apology will likely end the back-and-forth verbal volleys between him and Veronica Atkins.
The maelstrom erupted when the mayor told a group of firefighters that he thought Atkins was “fat,” and implied that the dead doctor had died of health-related causes.
“I don’t believe that bulls- – – that [Atkins] dropped dead slipping on the sidewalk. Yeah, right!” Bloomberg told the firefighters while they dined on a carb-loaded meal of bow-tie pasta.
Atkins died from massive head trauma caused by a fall on icy pavement, according to his death certificate.
The mayor also called the food Atkins served at his Southampton home “inedible.”
The mayor’s comments prompted Atkins’ widow to go on national TV to demand a public apology.
That apology didn’t seem forthcoming when Bloomberg taped an interview with ABC in which he said she should “lighten up.”
But the mayor changed his tune yesterday and likely hopes the five-day media frenzy over his comments will finally die down as a result.
Mrs. Atkins could not be immediately reached for comment.