It's a good thing most of us get the day off Wednesday as the heat is making some of us loopy, including New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who exhibited some comically bad timing with a meltdown at a press conference. The same day the mayor snapped at a reporter about a brawl at a newly opened public pool in Williamsburg, sarcastically saying he would post cops to guard the lifeguards, a cop got punched in the face at the very same pool.

It's like something out of Angry Dad. Bloomberg, fuming, fielded a question about a brawl at the newly renovated McCarren pool, which he opened to much fanfare last Thursday, and where, on Friday, a group of teenagers fought with lifeguards. The New York Times' Michael Grynbaum dryly related the sweaty mayor's response to a reporter's question about the much-covered fight:

“Well, what do you want me to say?” Mr. Bloomberg snapped.

The mayor, who had rolled up the sleeves of his pink oxford shirt, heaped on a dollop of sarcasm — “O.K., we’ll put a cop next to every lifeguard in the city” — before dismissing the question entirely.

“Come on, think about it!” he angrily urged the reporter.

What unfortunate timing. The same day the mayor was chewing out the reporter, another brawl erupted at McCarren pool, this one injuring two cops. DNAinfo reports: "Police said the officers, who were assigned to the pool, were injured Monday when trying to enforce the 'No Dive' rule. A 20-year-old swimmer punched one of the officers in the side of the face. The second officer hurt his wrist while trying to handcuff the swimmer, police said." Sounds like everybody in New York could use a bit of cooling off, from the mayor to those already at the public pools.

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Adam Martin