On the steps of City Hall, the Democratic mayoral front-runner, Fernando Ferrer, received the endorsement yesterday of the New York chapter of the Association of Community Organizations to Reform Now, known as ACORN.

The organization describes itself as “the nation’s largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities.” According to the Ferrer campaign’s press release, the New York political arm of the group, APAC, has chapters throughout the city that include 38,000 “predominantly African-American and Latino New Yorkers.” The group enjoys a reputation for formidable get-out-the-vote operations.

Mr. Ferrer, clasping the hand of the executive director of New York ACORN, Bertha Lewis, strode up to the steps of City Hall, where a boisterous assemblage cheered in advance of the endorsement press conference. There, Ms. Lewis praised Mr. Ferrer as a “fighter” and a candidate understanding of the needs of the indigent.

Mr. Ferrer responded: “I can’t tell you how I’ve been looking forward to this picture.” He stood before a sea of Ferrer campaign placards held by ACORN members, whom Mr. Ferrer identified as “everyday New Yorkers with whom I’ve had the privilege of standing and fighting together … for decency in raising the minimum wage.”

In California in 1995, ACORN sued to exempt itself from the state’s minimum-wage requirements, and in 2003, a Texas affiliate was found to have violated the National Labor Relations Act for terminating employees who attempted to form a union. “I’m proud to receive the endorsement of ACORN,” Mr. Ferrer said. “I’m proud because we fight for the same values.”

Last year, ACORN became the subject of a Florida state investigation for alleged improper voter-registration activities, including registering felons illegally, destroying registration forms collected from Republicans, and fraudulently post-dating election documents. The status of that investigation could not immediately be ascertained.

And in 1995, the inspector general of AmeriCorps, a nationwide network of service programs, testified before Congress that ACORN had violated federal guidelines by improperly funneling public grant money from its 501(c)3 charitable sub-organizations to its 501(c)4 lobbying arms. ACORN was stripped of the grant.

Ms. Lewis said yesterday that APAC was affiliated with the national organization. At yesterday’s conference, Mr. Ferrer was asked whether, by accepting the group’s endorsement and expressing pride in standing with ACORN, he was also standing by the national organization, which has been investigated for alleged corruption and misdeeds.

The candidate responded: “I’m receiving the endorsement of APAC today. I’m proud to receive that endorsement. I have stood shoulder to shoulder with these members of ACORN from New York, fighting for the same things and not just beginning last week, but for years. I’m proud to be with them today.”

During the question session with reporters, Ms. Lewis was asked about a famous kiss she planted on Mayor Bloomberg’s lips this spring and why she was endorsing Mr. Ferrer in light of complimentary statements made about the mayor.

“A kiss is just a kiss,” Ms. Lewis said.

“But some people, you marry,” she continued, cuddling Mr. Ferrer.

At yesterday’s conference, Mr. Ferrer appeared more spirited on the hustings than he has been of late, despite a morning riddled with unpleasant reminders of his campaign’s grimmest days.

During a live interview on WWRL radio, one of his hosts, Steve Feuerstein, asked Mr. Ferrer to disclose some of his favorite pastimes. The former Bronx borough president listed racquetball, cycling, and cooking, and was asked his favorite dish to prepare. “Shrimp fra diavolo,” Mr. Ferrer replied.

Mr. Feuerstein, suggesting he had not heard Mr. Ferrer correctly, facetiously asked the candidate to repeat himself, saying: “I thought you said … Diallo.” The reference was to an unarmed African immigrant killed by police officers in 1999, Amadou Diallo. In March, Mr. Ferrer outraged many African-Americans when he said, in remarks before a police sergeants’ group, that he thought the shooting was not criminal.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Ferrer, Christy Setzer, said yesterday of the candidate: “I think he found it shocking that the host of a show would pretend to take on serious issues and then make a tasteless joke about Amadou Diallo.”

Less than an hour after the fra diavolo confusion, the Diallo flap came up again, during a live radio show on the Pacifica network’s WBAI station. Mr. Ferrer was presented with questions from listeners, one of whom asked Mr. Ferrer to clarify his position on whether the killing was criminal. Mr. Ferrer replied that, in his remarks, he was “acknowledging the fact of a jury verdict.”

“I did so carelessly in that six seconds,” Mr. Ferrer said. “I took full responsibility for it.” During Mr. Ferrer’s WWRL airtime, the candidate also addressed a recent New York Times poll showing that Mr. Bloomberg, were he eligible to run in the Democratic primary, would defeat the four current candidates.

Mr. Ferrer said he thought the numbers reflected that voters weren’t paying attention to the race yet, and he challenged Mr. Bloomberg, an enrolled Democrat until he changed registration in advance of his 2001 mayoral run, to return to his party of origin.

“I encourage him to be a Democrat again,” Mr. Ferrer said, while expressing doubts that Mr. Bloomberg could sufficiently distance himself from Republicans at the state and federal levels. “I would love for him to come in” to the primary contest, Mr. Ferrer said.

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The executive director of the New York City Board of Elections, John Ravitz, has informed a federal appeals court that a decision to place Mayor Bloomberg’s erstwhile Republican challenger Thomas Ognibene on the September 13 primary ballot would cost the city around $2 million, Mr. Ravitz said yesterday. A spokeswoman for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Roseann MacKechnie, said yesterday that the court will hear Mr. Ognibene’s case Tuesday.

In a letter dispatched to the court earlier this week, Mr. Ravitz said the board needed to know by the end of business yesterday whether it would have to conduct a Republican primary. At this late stage, he said, it would cost taxpayers $900,000 for the resetting of voting machines. Standby paper ballots, Mr. Ravitz said, would cost another $750,000. Procuring poll books for the city’s 61 election districts, he added, would cost $20,000, and additional expenses would be incurred for overtime labor required to complete preparations before next Wednesday, when the machines are sent to polling places.

“I think the court is going to look at this letter sent to them and see these are not frivolous issues,” Mr. Ravitz said, adding that their decision to wait until Tuesday to hear Mr. Ognibene’s case would render a September 13 election an “impossibility.” In the 2001 GOP primary, when Mayor Bloomberg defeated Herman Badillo, 72,961 ballots were cast. Ms. MacKechnie said yesterday that, depending on the court’s ruling, a different date could be set for the election. Mr. Ognibene, who said he had been unaware of the board’s letter, advocated holding the Republican primary during the Democratic candidates’ runoff election at “a negligible cost.” Mr. Ognibene’s federal case argues that New York ballot access laws unfairly disenfranchise city Republicans by requiring mayoral candidates of both major parties here to secure 7,500 signatures on nominating petitions.

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Mayor Bloomberg and some of the Democrats hoping to unseat him picked up endorsements yesterday from some of the city’s influential weekly newspapers. The speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, won the backing of the Jewish Press, which called him a “strong supporter of local Jewish causes.” The Harlem-based Amsterdam News endorsed the president of Manhattan, C. Virginia Fields, the only black candidate in the race. The Spanish-language Ecuador News threw its weight behind Mr. Bloomberg, and the Queens Chronicle went with Rep. Anthony Weiner.