Bloomberg Recants HSPH Comment

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has backed off comments he made earlier this week while accepting an award from the School of Public Health that criticized a dead NYPD officer considered a 9/11 hero.

On Monday, Bloomberg called James Zadroga—a detective who died of lung disease after working 450 hours at Ground Zero—“not a hero,” drawing criticism from local police unions and Zadroga’s family.

Bloomberg, who earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1966, cited the New York City medical examiner’s finding that Zadroga had died of drug abuse, not from inhaling dust at the attack site.

But on Tuesday, after reporters in New York asked about his comments, Bloomberg reversed himself.

“I think the odds are that he clearly got sick because of breathing the air, but that’s up to the doctors,” Bloomberg said. “It’s a question of how you want to define what a hero is, and I certainly did not mean to hurt the family or impugn his reputation.”

Bloomberg was in Boston on Monday to receive the Julius B. Richmond Award, the Harvard School of Public Health’s highest honor.

He was chosen for his health initiatives targeting tobacco use, gun violence, and trans-fats, according to an HSPH press release.

Responding to a question during the award ceremony about why science is often disfavored, Bloomberg said science can destroy people’s illusions, and pointed to Zadroga.

“We wanted to have a hero, and there are plenty of heroes,” Bloomberg said. “It’s just, in this case, science says this was not a hero.”

Zadroga died at the age of 34 in January 2006 from severe respiratory problems. An initial autopsy attributed his death to the toxic dust created by the collapse of the towers.

The Zadroga family requested a second review by the city medical examiner, part of the process to add Zadroga’s name to the official list of 9/11 victims. The report, released last month, concluded Zadroga had injected crushed prescription pills into his bloodstream, which scarred his lung tissue.

City police unions and the detective’s family have called on Bloomberg to apologize. Zadroga’s father said the mayor was acting “on a political agenda” and called him “heartless,” according to The New York Times.

Robin Herman, an HSPH spokeswoman, wrote in an e-mailed statement that the mayor’s comments had not angered the audience.

“There was no ‘stir,’” Herman wrote.

HSPH Dean Barry R. Bloom declined to comment through Herman.

Angela Banks, who works in Bloomberg’s press office, directed The Crimson to a recording of Bloomberg’s comments from Tuesday.

Marie F. Danziger, who directs the communications program at the Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy, said the Bloomberg episode reminded her of the reaction to comments about women and science that Lawrence H. Summers made in January 2005 while he was University president.

“Bloomberg made the mistake of forgetting that he is the mayor of the city where this officer served,” Danziger said.