He also said a lot of things like “If you like your policy / doctor...” And, you’ll note’ his declarations of love are always followed by a disclaimer. If it’s the NYT covering it, someone has struck a nerve.
The NYT, no doubt intending to deceive, changed the issue presented to Giuliani from, "does he love?" to the quite different issue of "has he expressed love".
The latter, as you suggest produces an answer which the record shows often proves to mean the opposite.