The state banking superintendent, Diana Taylor, stood by her man yesterday morning after a report surfaced that someone was posing as her long-time boyfriend, Mayor Bloomberg, in an attempt to get a date.

Yesterday, the New York Post printed a story about a prank personal ad from someone who “takes walks from City Hall in search of a woman who shares his warmth, compassion, intelligence, humor, energy, attractiveness, and sensuality.” Ms.Taylor happened to be with Mr. Bloomberg in Queens where they were announcing a crack-down on predatory lenders.

When a reporter asked the mayor for his reaction to the ad, which ran in the New York Times, Ms.Taylor approached the podium, grabbed the mayor posses sively by the elbow, leaned into the microphone, and said, “As the mayor’s press secretary said, ‘He’s taken.'”

Mr. Bloomberg laughed off the report.

“I will tell you that the banking superintendent would be annoyed if it was me, and it’s not me,” he said.”I did not place that ad.”

He added, “I would refer you back to the question that I got a couple days ago about whether or not I had any romantic relationship with Margarita Lopez. I think it’s true that both Margarita and I have denied that there is any. I think the banking superintendent probably believes me in that case.”

Ms. Lopez, a City Council member who crossed party lines to endorse Mr. Bloomberg, is openly gay.