BOSTON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Boston Mayor Thomas Menino apologized Wednesday for saying he would "blow up" Detroit and "start all over" in the bankrupt city.
Menino was quoted in Sunday's New York Times Magazine naming Detroit as another city he would live in besides Boston. But when asked about the city's many financial problems, his answer drew a swift rebuke from his Motown counterpart, The Washington Post said Wednesday.
Asked how he would fix Detroit, Menino said, "I'd blow up the place and start all over. No, seriously, when it takes a police officer 90 minutes to answer a call, there's something wrong with the system. Forty percent of the streetlights are out, most of the buildings are boarded up. Why? Inaction, that's the problem -- leadership."
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing called Menino's comments "extremely regrettable."
"I would think the mayor of a city that recently experienced a deadly bombing attack would be more sensitive and not use the phrase 'blow up,'" Bing said.
Asked by a Boston radio station for his response, Menino said: "I made a mistake. I apologize."
Menino is Boston's longest serving mayor. He's said he'll retire when this, his fifth term, expires.
