Mayor Bloomberg lauded the Independence Party during its annual awards ceremony last night while attacking the Republican Party, which he is currently registered in, and the Democratic Party, which he used to be a member of. Even so, he kept his distance from the Independence Party’s controversial leader, Lenora Fulani, who has been accused of making anti-Semitic remarks in the past.

Though the mayor jovially mingled with party members before delivering the keynote speech and posed for pictures with several high-level party leaders, including Ms. Fulani, he seemed well aware of the possible consequences of appearing too chummy with her.

Since word of last night’s appearance was made public late last week, coverage has homed in on the prospect of Mr. Bloomberg’s sharing the stage with Ms. Fulani. Yesterday afternoon, the speaker of the City Council, Gifford Miller, sent reporters a copy of a letter addressed to the mayor, condemning Mr. Bloomberg for not taking a stand against Ms. Fulani.

“If you decide to attend the Independence Party events despite the presence of Dr. Fulani, then I would hope that you use those appearances in front of the party to denounce the kind of divisive politics that she has practiced for decades,” the letter from Mr. Miller, who hopes to win the Democratic nomination for mayor, read.

Mr. Bloomberg did nothing of the sort. Instead, he unleashed a harsh attack on both major parties, plugging his past proposals for nonpartisan elections and sweeping changes at the Board of Elections.

“For all the critics who are rushing out to criticize me tonight, to criticize me for being here tonight, let me point out that this night is about the 1 million New Yorkers who are denied the most basic right” to work at the polls, he said, noting that Election Day poll workers need to be appointed by party leaders.

“If the two major political leaders were willing to take on the status quo to reduce their own power, then none of us would be standing in this room tonight, we would all be out holiday shopping,” he told the crowd over their loud applause.

Excluding Independent voters from working at the polls, Mr. Bloomberg said, denies them the rights that all citizens should have.

“We believe that every single vote should be treated equally. And that is what the party bosses don’t want to have happen,” he said. “Let’s be honest about what this is all about. It’s taking away their power, their ability to control the election, their ability to disenfranchise anybody who would vote against them.”

Mr. Miller cited in his letter to Mr. Bloomberg a report by the Anti-Defamation League, which gave examples of Ms. Fulani’s anti-Semitic remarks.

According to Mr. Miller’s letter, she said Jews “function as mass murderers of people of color,” she defined Zionism as “Jewish Corporate Nationalism,” and she referred to the people of Crown Heights as “rightwing Zionists.”

Before the event, the mayor’s communications director, William Cunningham, said Mr. Miller had “selective amnesia” and was conveniently forgetting that the Independence Party had endorsed Senator Schumer and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, both Democrats, in their last elections. He also said Ms. Fulani was only one member of an organization that represents thousands of people and important ideals.

“The mayor stands for himself, he stands for treating everyone equally,” Mr. Cunningham said.

A spokeswoman for the Independence Party, Jacqueline Salit, told the Associated Press earlier in the day that some of the quotations attributed to Ms. Fulani in Mr. Miller’s letter were “taken out of context and some are absolute misrepresentations.” She also pointed out that Mr. Miller ran on the Independence Party line in 1997.

In the 2001 general election, Mr. Bloomberg won more than 50,000 votes on the Independence Party line. That exceeded his margin of victory over the Democratic nominee, Mark Green.

The party, which has roughly 320,000 members statewide, also endorsed the mayor’s proposal for nonpartisan elections and has backed his proposed changes to the city’s campaign-finance program.

In 2001, Ms. Fulani, a former leader of the radical Alliance Party, publicly suggested that American foreign policy was responsible for the terrorist attacks of September 11. Mr. Bloomberg denounced those comments but later invited her to City Hall for a meeting on education. He has since avoided public appearances with her. Ms. Fulani did not talk to reporters last night.