Atkins' Widow Upset
MIKE'S 'FAT' JAB INSULTS ATKINS' WIDOW

By DAVID SEIFMAN and ADAM MILLER
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January 22, 2004 -- The distraught widow of Dr. Robert Atkins is "extremely upset and hurt" after Mayor Bloomberg was caught on camera saying the diet guru was "fat" and questioning how he died, her spokesman said yesterday.
In candid, off-the-cuff remarks to a group of firefighters, Bloomberg hinted that Atkins may have died from weight-related health problems, despite reports that he succumbed from injuries suffered in a fall on an icy Manhattan street last April.

The remarks were captured by a cameraman for NY1 and heard by a Post reporter in the room with the mayor and firemen at a station house for a press conference.

"Veronica Atkins is extremely upset and hurt," Richard Rothstein, the famed diet doctor's spokesman, said yesterday.

"She is confused. She doesn't understand why the mayor would do this. She does not understand this at all. She's really hurt by this."

When the subject of Atkins and his slip-and-fall death came up while Bloomberg was eating at a Brooklyn firehouse Tuesday, Hizzoner weighed in with a blistering attack.

"Atkins is dead. I don't believe that bulls- - - that [Atkins] dropped dead slipping on the sidewalk. Yeah, right!" said Bloomberg, chewing the fat with firefighters.

And he didn't mince words when describing his meeting Atkins at a fund-raiser at the diet king's Southampton home two years ago.

"The guy was fat . . . and the food was inedible," Bloomberg quipped.

"I took one appetizer and I had to spit it into my napkin. It was just terrible."

Bloomberg yesterday ducked a reporter's question about his Atkins remarks.

"I would never criticize somebody about their waistline. Let me just say, 'You are what you eat,' " Bloomberg told WCBS Radio.

The mayor's press office had no comment on Veronica Atkins' remarks.

Rothstein said Veronica is at a loss for words after Bloomberg's attack, more so because the mayor penned her a touching condolence letter after her husband's death.

"She's looking at this letter and she's pretty upset and she's hurt," he said.

In the letter dated last May 5, Bloomberg said Atkins "touched the lives of so many and his legacy of service is an inspiration to us all."

Bloomberg aides have said the mayor's remarks to the firefighters were off the record. Media representatives responded that they were never told beforehand the session was off the record.

Rothstein said Bloomberg's beef has left a bitter taste.

"We don't know what more to say," he said.

"It's a painful situation. It's hurtful. We don't understand why our mayor did this."

More than 30 million Americans have tried the Atkins Diet - a hotly debated weight-loss plan favoring steaks and sausages over pasta, bread and fruit salad.

Critics have claimed the high amounts of fat in many recommended foods can lead to high cholesterol and heart attacks.

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/16414.htm