UNDAUNTED BY THEIR SLIM PROSPECTS, OUTSIDERS CROWD MAYORAL RACE

There is exactly zero chance that the mayoral candidate Christopher X.
Brodeur will be elected, but he does have a campaign pledge that suits New
York in August better than discussions of debt service and Palm Pilots for
the police. "Instead of having an inauguration, I will use that money to
install industrial fans in subway stations," said Mr. Brodeur, a candidate
in the Green Party primary.

Those who did not realize that the Greens were fielding a candidate for
mayor have perhaps caught wind of some of the other mayoral hopefuls, like
Kenny Kramer, of "Seinfeld" fame, or George Spitz, whose central
campaigning technique is to grab reporters and hang onto their ears for
dear life. Or Bernard Goetz, who, on his campaign Web site, refers to
himself as "well known on crime issues."

Every election year, there are candidates outside the mainstream political
parties who manage to wangle their way onto the ballot. But this year, in
one of the most crowded primaries in 30 years, the race for City Hall
boasts the most candidates, seven, on alternative party lines ever. There
are now eight recognized parties permitted to run in New York State, and
the general election yields other free agents, all with a medium, the
Internet, to get their messages out in ways impossible just four years ago.

"This is one of the most congested ballots in my lifetime," said Daniel
DeFrancesco, the executive director of the Board of Elections. But he
stopped short of proclaiming that that makes for an exciting race.
"Excitement is when you get hit by a bus."

Mr. Spitz, who has run unsuccessfully for office eight times in 33 years,
is running as a Democrat, and there is another Green Party challenger,
Julia Willebrand. Mr. Kramer was nominated by the Libertarian Party (he
handily beat None of the Above at the party's convention in a Manhattan
Holiday Inn) and Terry Gray will run on the Conservative Party line
(www.cpnys.org/NYC_Elections /Mayor). Mr. Goetz, who is best known for
shooting four black youths who he said were threatening him on a subway
train in 1984, has decided to call himself a City Independent.

These candidates are generally barred from events like debates and mayoral
forums with special interest groups, because sponsors want to give full
attention to the mainstream competitors. So each of these candidates has
turned to the Web to get his or her message out, creating sites that are
often cheaper than leaflets and certainly television advertising, which
none of them can afford.

"The Web really gives people the opportunity to see your platform," said
Mr. Goetz, whose sophisticated site, www.bernieformayor.com, could be used
as a model by some of the mainstream candidates, whose sites are often hard
to navigate and filled with endorsement "news" that most voters could live
without.

Few of the candidates hope to win, except for Mr. Goetz. (When asked why he
was running, he replied, "Are you being hostile?") And they cite their
desires to publicize their political agendas and to give voters who are
disenchanted with the mainstream candidates an option.

"I'm not doing this to be an officeholder," said Mr. Gray. "I'm doing this
because I believe there are thousands and thousands of people in New York
City who are not being represented in this election. This is about content,
not ambition."

Mr. Brodeur has a slightly different view. "Half the reason I am running is
to embarrass the Democrats and Republicans," he said.

As it happens, many of these candidates share similar ideas and platforms
with the six men seeking office on the Democratic and Republican lines.
They all contend that the city needs a strong housing plan, that the Board
of Education should be abolished and that crime reduction should stay a
municipal priority.

They do offer differences along the edges. Mr. Gray, a lawyer, would like
to see school vouchers. Ms. Willebrand, a former teacher, wants a tax
increase to pay for more social services and is perhaps the only candidate
over 25 years of age who says her central motivation is "to change the
world." Apart from his electric fan thing, Mr. Brodeur would also like the
subways to be free, and for Gracie Mansion to become a shelter for battered
women.

Joseph DePlasco, a spokesman for the Democratic candidate Mark Green,
dismissed the idea that fringe candidates bring new issues to light. "They
have a right to run, but they have absolutely no impact on the race," he
said. "If it is the case that they raise issues the others do not, they
should say what those issues are." As for the fan idea, Mr. DePlasco said
Mr. Brodeur had not gone far enough: "What's wrong with air-conditioning?"

Outside their Web sites, the candidates have taken various routes in
campaigning. Mr. Brodeur (www.mayorbrodeur.com) displayed his stated
technique of torturing Democrats at a rare forum open to alternative
candidates last week, sponsored by the National Organization for Women. He
continually mocked the candidates there, calling them "all wealthy white
men who don't care about the little people."

And Mr. Spitz, a retired state auditor, will have a chance to display his
own eclectic oratory as a participant in a debate today sponsored by the
Campaign Finance Board, Newsday and WPIX-TV Channel 11.

Mr. Brodeur has his own past with City Hall. In 1997 he was charged with
threatening the mayor's press secretary and violating a court order to stay
away from City Hall. Mr. Brodeur, whose recorded message begs callers to be
brief, left eight hours of voice mail messages -- some harassing -- at the
mayor's press office. He was acquitted.

Mr. Kramer (www .kramerformayor.com), whose main campaign theme is drug
legalization, said he would stage "live advertising" and encourage voter
turnout at youth events. Ms. Willebrand (www.juliaformayor.org) focuses on
simply finding people registered with the Green Party, no small feat. Just
to get enough signatures to get on the ballot, she had to trudge to the
Central Park Children's Zoo one Sunday to find a guitar player who performs
in a frog suit who she was told was a party member.

Mr. Spitz (www.georgespitz .com) drops in on centers for the elderly and
houses of worship, but his preferred campaigning usually involves
buttonholing reporters at mayoral forums or at City Hall, and talking until
he is politely asked to cease. At least once a week the phones in the City
Hall press room begin to ring for a half hour, with Mr. Spitz at the other
end of the line.

The fact that the voters have spoken eight times in Mr. Spitz's disfavor
does little to dampen his enthusiasm. "All that means is that they liked
the other candidate better," said Mr. Spitz, who is 78. "There is no
disgrace in that!"

Mr. Goetz is saving his energy until after the primary, when he plans to
campaign all around the city. He said that he understood that "the
incident" -- the 1984 subway shooting -- would be a negative for him in the
city's many neighborhoods predominantly populated with racial and ethnic
minorities, but said that his experience as a wastewater treatment plant
operator and building contractor would most likely mitigate it. He whiles
away time until the general election healing injured squirrels. He also
buys and sells industrial electronic equipment over the Internet.

Mr. Gray, a soft-spoken man with a special passion for school
privatization, said he was never frustrated campaigning four to five days a
week in a city that has only a slightly smaller percentage of liberals than
Sweden. "I feel quite comfortable being a conservative in New York City,"
he said.

He works the boardwalks, street fairs and parades. "People say to me, 'I
haven't seen you before,' " he said. "I tell them, 'Well, you're seeing me
now!' "