The NYPD’s unsanctioned report, which was widely circulated by media outlets, including CNN, stunned officials on both continents. It not only contradicted the view of the Kenyans and global investigators that the terrorists had been killed, but suggested the Kenyans had bungled the response to the bloodshed.

Within days of the controversial NYPD report, Linda Greenfield-Thomas, the top State Department official for Africa, officially announced that the NYPD opinion did not reflect the U.S. government position.

The mayor, on a pilgrimage on Friday to Goodfellas, a venerable Staten Island pizzeria, smiled, nodded at his slice and then proceeded to do the unthinkable: eat it with a knife and fork.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Mr. de Blasio was asked about his penchant, unchanged since his elevation to the mayoralty, to arrive late to scheduled appearances with reporters.

“I’m very comfortable with the way we’re doing things,” the mayor added.

Mr. de Blasio, a onetime grass-roots advocate, has moved into full organizing mode as he prepares for the start of the Albany legislative session. His event on Monday, in which he presented a united front with union officials, was only the latest in a string of news conferences that have doubled as rallies for the prekindergarten plan, and he has helped assemble a group of celebrity activists to aid his efforts.

On Monday, the mayor gestured toward the labor leaders — including the heads of powerful unions like the teachers’ and other city workers’ who will face his administration in contract talks this year — and said, “This is not something you see every day.”

When those conditions didn’t improve, James said, she acted to publicize the plight of Dasani Coates, a 12-year-old homeless girl subsequently spotlighted in a lengthy Times series.

“I commend the New York Times for highlighting this important issue on their front page but, to be clear, I was not a source behind The New York Times’ feature on Dasani and did not intend to imply so,” James said in a statement.