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But ultimately, there was no avoiding the subject, and on Thursday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg fielded the inquiry that has intrigued the City Hall press corps for days: Did he really make an ungentlemanly remark about a woman's backside at a Christmas party last year?

Mr. Bloomberg, never one to mince words, denied the comment that was attributed to him in an article in New York magazine this week.

"I never said it, and I don't know where it came from," he told reporters in Harlem at a New York City Housing Authority community center.

When the questioner, Hunter Walker of The New York Observer, further suggested that the quotation might reflect a pattern of sexist remarks by the mayor, Mr. Bloomberg snapped: "Don't be ridiculous. That's an outrage for you to say that."

The quotation appeared in a profile of the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, whom Mr. Bloomberg is believed to see as the best candidate in the race to succeed him. The reporter for New York magazine, Jonathan Van Meter, wrote that he was at a Christmas party on the Upper East Side when he and a friend went up to Mr. Bloomberg. His friend thanked the mayor for his efforts on behalf of gun control. The mayor, Mr. Van Meter said, ignored the comment, instead gesturing to a woman standing nearby in a tight, floor-length gown and making the alleged remark on her derrière.

Mr. Van Meter went on to quote Ms. Quinn as saying that Mr. Bloomberg upbraids her when she wears flat shoes and mocks her when she is late dyeing her hair and her roots show. She also described him as having "a potty mouth."

A spokeswoman for New York magazine, Shama Hussain, said it stood by Mr. Van Meter's reporting.

On Thursday, after shutting down Mr. Walker, the mayor turned to Marcia Kramer, a reporter for WCBS-TV.

"Miss, do you have a question?" Mr. Bloomberg asked her.

"I just wondered why you've become the fashion police, giving Christine Quinn advice about wearing high heels and getting her roots done," Ms. Kramer asked.

Mr. Bloomberg, taking a slightly more modulated tone than with Mr. Walker, replied curtly: "Miss, if she asks, when we have a conversation and joke about it, there's nothing wrong with that."

He added: "Chris Quinn is really somebody that's done a lot for this city. I've been a big supporter of hers, as you know, and I think that she represents this city very well."

Ms. Quinn later e-mailed a comment, through a spokeswoman, making light of the matter: "The mayor and I have a productive, collegial and fun working relationship," she said.

"Part of that is a healthy banter in the way only two tough outspoken New Yorkers can have. We joke around, and it's all in good fun. By the way, did you notice the hideous tie the mayor was wearing today?"