SENIOR advisers to Mayor Bloomberg in creasingly fear that Fernando Ferrer will win the Democratic primary and avoid a potentially racially divisive runoff that could work to the mayor's advantage. The Bloomberg camp --which for months has expected Ferrer to be its opponent in the November election-- is now resigned to the possibility that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields will not draw enough support to keep Ferrer from the 40 percent needed on Sept. 13 to win the primary outright. "The only person hurt more than us by Virginia's problems is Virginia," said a Bloomberg aide, referring to the weeklong flap over a doctored campaign photo. "If Freddy reaches 40 [percent], it certainly makes things more difficult."

Actress Lorraine Bracco told hundreds of women at a Manhattan rally for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's re-election that the 63-year-old billionaire bachelor is quite a catch. "He's smart, he's good-looking, he's rich and he loves his mother - he's perfect, right?" she told a giddy crowd on Wednesday morning. "But I found out that this is pretty much the typical dating situation in New York, so we must be here for another reason." The ladies weren't there to meet a rich man, they were gathered to launch the Women for Bloomberg effort of the mayor's campaign. Pink signs decorated the Times Square theater, where loud speakers blasted songs by Madonna and other hyped tunes.

By trying to halt a primary challenge by Mr. Ognibene, a conservative, the Bloomberg campaign is seeking to avoid not only a distracting primary battle, but also a confrontation with elements of the Republican Party who think Mr. Bloomberg is too liberal. The specter of history would haunt such a campaign: in 1969, a liberal Republican mayor, John V. Lindsay, was defeated in the Republican primary by a little-known challenger, though Mr. Lindsay then won re-election on the Liberal Party line. The petition challenge shows an intriguing, and swift, evolution of Mr. Bloomberg's views on allowing potential candidates to get on the ballot. Only last year, Mr. Bloomberg criticized the practice of combing through the signatures on nominating petitions looking for technical flaws in order to avoid competition. The mayor told The New York Sun: "It's become a whole cottage industry of you don't have to beat the other guy based on positions or your ability to serve; all you've got to do is beat him because you got a better lawyer who can get him thrown off the ballot. I think it's time to end this 'gotcha' kind of technique where lawyers comb petitions to find some technical violation."

WHAT: Manhattan Borough Candidates will meet with Inwood Hill Runners and neighborhood residents -- following an evening jog -- to discuss park safety in Inwood Hill Park. WHEN: Thursday, August 18 at 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. runners meet for 4 mile run…Candidate Perkins joins run) WHERE: Isham Street entrance to Inwood Hill Park (Corner of Isham & Seaman - Take A Train to 207th Stop) WHO: · Inwood Residents and Runners · Parks1 Campaign Manager, Justin Krebs · Invited Borough President Candidates: Adriano Espaillat, Bill Perkins (PERKINS IS JOGGING WITH THE RUNNING GROUP), Brian Ellner, Carlos Manzano, Eva Moskowitz, Keith Wright, Margarita Lopez, Scott Stringer and Stan Michels

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is pressuring the MTA to follow through on its promise to install more subway surveillance cameras. He says after the bombings in Madrid and London, he met with the MTA's chairman to put the cameras on the fast track: "It's up to the MTA to put cameras in and as you may remember, I had a meeting with Peter Kalokow and Ray Kelly and I did, they committed to putting in a whole bunch of cameras, expeditiously, and we're going to hold them to that commitment." The agency plans to spend $250 million on the project, but isn't saying how many cameras will be installed, or what stations will get them.

Fields showed the most aggressiveness in discussing Bloomberg's veto of the Equal Benefits Law, a measure championed by lesbian City Councilwoman Christine Quinn that would have required contractors doing business with the city to offer their gay and lesbian employees domestic partner benefits on par with those given to spouses. Asked about the mayor's assertion that city procurement policies should not be used to advance social agendas, the borough president scoffed. "The city is always doing social policy," she said without skipping a beat. "I mean we do so much policy on a whole host of issues. So I think that is a real phony argument when you look at a number of legislative initiatives and policy initiatives where we often tie in decisions that are clearly related to social policy." Told that the mayor, responding to Gay City News' Andy Humm immediately prior to the LGBT Pride March in June, said he would have taken the same view back in the 1970s and 1980s when sanctions against businesses active in apartheid South Africa were adopted by the city, Fields seemed taken aback. "To now know that the mayor has taken a position that he would have done differently is very disturbing and I can only say that I am so glad that he was not mayor at the time when that decision was being discussed," she said.

"It's not a local issue, and I don't have anything to say," Bloomberg replied when asked about Sheehan's ongoing protests near President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Sheehan's son Casey, 24, died in Iraq last year.

The mayor's response, or lack thereof, elicited an emotional reaction from Carmen Depompeis, whose brother, Pfc. Hernando Rios, 29, was killed earlier this month in Baghdad. The father of three, who lived in Woodside, was one of 10 members of the Manhattan-based Fighting 69th Army National Guard regiment killed in Iraq. "He was born in Manhattan, he was raised in Queens, he was a local issue," said Depompeis, 40, who opposes the war and supports Sheehan. "Many soldiers from his unit have died. That's a local issue."

Yassky Draws Fire Over Sampson Endorsement By Thomas Tracy - The Park Slope Courier - 9/5/05 City Councilmember David Yassky's endorsement of State Senator John Sampson for Kings County District Attorney hit a political roadblock last week with critics charging that the Brooklyn Heights legislator's decision was motivated strictly by his political ambitions.

Broadcast channels, which are regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, are allowed to reject so-called issue advertisements from interest groups based on their content. But they are prohibited from doing so with ads from candidates."There is part of the statute that says the station cannot censor the content of a political ad," said a communications commission official who spoke on condition of anonymity, following the commission's general practice of avoiding public comment upon matters in which it is not involved. (The F.C.C. generally only acts on complaints; Mr. Ellner said he would probably file one but had not done so.)The commission official said that after a station agrees to sell time for a campaign commercial, "the station is required to put it on the air - they have no option."Still, the official said there was a way around the rules. While stations are required to accept all commercials for federal candidates, they can pick and choose the local races for which they will run commercials. And stations in the past have cited that loophole after being accused of rejecting candidate spots based on their content.

Freddy Ferrer, whose campaign has been rather timid until now, deserves the chance to finally take on Mayor Mike directly, without diminished strength and campaign funds. His "two New Yorks" theme from four years ago was exactly the message that voters deserved, and I will always appreciate that Freddy didn't back down on September 12, insisting that nothing had changed. We still had then, and still have now after four years of Bloomberg, a city of inconceivable riches that is pushing its poor and desperate farther out into the margins. If Freddy campaigns like a populist from now until November, our CEO Mayor may yet get fired.

Better yet, the possibility of wasting $12 million in taxpayer money on an unnecessary run-off election opens the possibility for significant election reform. It's time to put proportional representation back on the agenda. Taxpayer outrage was a significant, if not primary, factor in San Francisco's recent switch to instant run-off voting (elections by ranked ballot, where the votes for the lowest vote-getting candidate are redistributed to the next choice listed on each ballot until a candidate finally achieves a majority vote). It could be here, too. The gradual demographic shifts in the city virtually ensure lots more run-off elections, with a splintered, Balkanized electorate unable to elect majority candidates.

The successful reform campaign of Margarita Lopez Torres for Surrogate Court Judge of Kings County is under attack. The legal challenge to her slim 121-vote lead is serious! Volunteers are needed immediately -- at least eight people or more at a time. Meticulous work is required. When? The hours for the next two weeks are 9 am to 9 pm from Mon-Fri, 9-5 on Saturdays, and 10-5 Sundays, for the next two weeks; shifts will be arranged as follows: 9am to 1 pm, 2 pm to 5pm, 6 pm to 9 pm. Where? Brooklyn Board of Elections, 210 Joralemon St, 4th Floor (across from Borough Hall). If you can help, please contact Susan at 347-623-2668 or Matt at 718-415-3239.

• Fred from Manhattan: How do you plan to get the homeless of this City permanent and secure places to live?
• Mike Answers: We're already bringing down the overall number of homeless New Yorker [sic]; that's why we were able to close the biggest family shelter in New York...

What timing, indeed. The general election is one month away, and it's not like that good-for-nothing Freedy Ferrer can afford to cut a check that fat for every voter. However, unlike last year's property tax rebate, this check wasn't signed by the Mayor. City ethics rules prevent a candidate's name from appearing in a high profile city-funded mailing such as this within 90 days of the election.

It's a nice nod to ethics, but how are the last 90 days supposed to counter-balance an entire term spent plastering the incumbent's name and face all over government funded mailings, tv ads and billboards? All politicians do this. George Pataki can be heard extolling the beauty of New York in tourism ads, and crowing about health care for tots in PSA's. In the town of Hempstead (where, yes, I have been spending an awful lot of time), the blasted name Kate Murray is ubiquitous. Her ads are everywhere. Her name appears on every town building, van, pamphlet - you name it. Seniors, got a problem? Call Kate Murray's senior hotline.

The spoils of office have been exploited since the earliest days of cities and party politics. Tammany Hall hacks famously gave out free turkeys at Thanksgiving to maintain the loyal votes of poor voters. So why mask it with this veneer of fairness in the very late days of the election campaign? Just put the mayor's name and face at the top of the ballot, along with a special message from him saying "these elections are the city's way of thanking you for keeping New York City strong during difficult times."

Join Fernando Ferrer and Howard Dean at the Union Square Farmer's Market!

Meet on the NE corner of Union Square Park
TIME: 2:30 pm.

We will walk from the Farmer's Market through Greenwich Village and end in Washington Square Park.Please call 646-839-4947 if you have any questions or would like to volunteer.

"Our Democratic values are what make this country great, and right here in New York City is where we take our stand--Freddy Ferrer is the leader we need to take that first step in returning those values to New York City and beyond." --Democratic Party Chairman, Gov. Howard Dean

We [WFP] don't often ask our network of supporters to donate directly to a candidate. Usually, we want your money invested in the WFP directly, as that pays longer-term dividends in terms of building our capacity. Not this time. This time, we urge you to directly back the WFP-endorsed candidate for Mayor, Fernando Ferrer. He needs and deserves your support. The incumbent Mayor is spending what can only be described as an obscene amount of money. He could just about give every voter another $400 property tax rebate for the amount of cash he is putting into his re-election. This is called buying an election. It mocks the democratic process. Elections should be about ideas and values and the ability to articulate a vision... The key thing right now is to increase the number of medium and small donors to Ferrer. He gets matching funds from the city at the rate of 6-1, and even though he'll never have Bloomberg-style dough, he can get enough to get his message out. We know the incumbent mayor has a bottomless checkbook, and you don't. But PLEASE - open it and send $50 or $100 or $250 to the Ferrer campaign.

"I make it a rule never to go to Queens -- and since that eliminates both airports I don't travel a great deal."--Michael Bloomberg "How do you motivate someone? Simple. Are they addicted to three meals a day?"--Michael Bloomberg "The Royal family -- what a bunch of misfits -- a gay, an architect, that horsey faced lesbian, and a kid who gave up Koo Stark for some fat broad."--Michael Bloomberg

"The three biggest lies are: The check's in the mail, I'll respect you in the morning, and I'm glad that I'm Jewish."--Michael Bloomberg

"If women wanted to be appreciated for their brains, they'd go to the library instead of to Bloomingdale's."--Michael Bloomberg "I know for a fact that any self-respecting woman who walks past a construction site [and] doesn't get a whistle will turn around and walk past again and again until she does get one."--Michael Bloomberg

A mention of unmentionables Who says mayoral candidate Freddy Ferrer doesn't have any sizzle? One ardent supporter is doing her best to sex up his campaign by designing a ladies thong emblazoned with the slogan "Vote Por Fernando." "He's Latino and he's a Latin lover," designer Liza Sabater tells us. "Why not have him on your panties, if not in them?" Ferrer's wife, Aramina, would probably prefer the former. Sabater, whose Ferrer lingerie is available at cafepress.com, says no one has actually bought a pair yet. The Ferrer campaign declined to comment on the undergarments for their underdog. Freddy's reps are more vocal about Mayor Bloomberg's paying 17-year-old campaign workers more than a police recruit makes. The New York Observer's Politicker blog reports that Bloomberg canvassers make $15 an hour %u2014 which works out to $31,200 a year. Compare that with the NYPD starting salary of $25,100. "Knocking on doors for the billionaire mayor nets you a fatter paycheck than a new cop," groused Ferrer spokeswoman Christy Setzer.

CHRIS OWENS ENDORSES GLORIA MATTERA, GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE FOR BROOKLYN BOROUGH PRESIDENT Owens says Markowitz “has betrayed Brooklyn

The WFP believes elections are about issues, not personalities. Elections are a moment for society to pause and, by the simple act of pulling a lever, say, this is what we stand for. That moment comes once every four years in New York City. And for us, the choice is clear. On the issues that matter most to working families, Fernando Ferrer reflects our values -- equality, decency, opportunity, solidarity, freedom. Here are five examples – five reasons to vote for Fernando Ferrer: 1. Expanding the Law Requiring Companies that do business with the city to pay a Living Wage. Ferrer supports it. Bloomberg opposes it. 2. Requiring Big Box Retailers in NYC to provide Health Care to their employees. Ferrer supports it. Bloomberg opposes it (and vetoed the City Council’s bill). 3. Building a Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel, Congressman Jerry Nadler’s extremely smart idea that will reduce traffic, pollution, and asthma. Ferrer supports it. Bloomberg opposes it (and flip-flopped). 4. Postponing the city tax cut for millionaires scheduled to phase in at the end of 2005. Ferrer supports postponing the phase-out. 5. Returning the power of rent control and rent stabilization to the City so more working families can afford to live in New York. Ferrer supports it. Bloomberg opposes it. On the issues, the WFP endorses Fernando Ferrer and we urge you to vote for him on Tuesday. Thank you, Jim Duncan, Bertha Lewis, and Bob Master, Co-Chairs Dan Cantor, Executive Director

Resounding victories include Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, Binghamton mayor’s races; Brookhaven upset; Gentile, Lappin, Garodnick, Vacca in NYC; Ulster, Nassau, Suffolk legislatures; Saratoga sweep; Erie County Comptroller surprise... Following the national trend that saw Democrats affirmed throughout the country, the New York State Democratic Party enjoyed a virtual sweep last night of all major races in the state, sending a clear sign that the Democratic Party in New York is stronger than ever. Democrats swept every major upstate Mayor’s race, every competitive New York City council race, and key legislatures and upsets throughout the state.

"This guy is an opportunist. That's all he is. I don't wish anyone ill, except for him to be defeated which is what he wished me in my campaign (for Borough President). He endorsed the candidate outside of the Democratic Party against me, which is his right to do. He sucks up to the affluent minority. That's who he does the dance for. That's his thing, the affluent minority. He is turning his face on the majority" in the 11th Congressional District and in Brooklyn as a whole.

Reacting to Markowitz' strong assessment, Owens said in statement that he "disappointed that Marty takes criticism of his work so personally. It's unprofessional and petty. I have been supportive of Marty in the past. While we disagree strongly on the Atlantic Yards project, I only considered Marty a 'traitor to the Democratic Party when he endorsed Mayor (Michael Bloomberg) for re-election, rather than endorsing Democratic Mayoral nominee Fernando Ferrer or staying neutral."