New York's mayor may have inadvertently taken a step forward in Jewish-Muslim relations this week.

Michael Bloomberg was speaking at an event to mark the beginning of Ramadan, Islam's annual month of fasting, when he made something a slip.

According to the New York Daily News, the Jewish politician greeted the Muslim leaders gathered at the Manhattan Police headquarters with the Hebrew phrase "shalom alaikum" rather than the more appropriate Arab "salaam alaikum".

Both are roughly translated as "peace be upon you".

The slip was perhaps less embarrassing than one made recently by Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann.

In a video which was quickly circulated online, she pronounced the Yiddish word "chutzpah" as "choot-spa".