BY MICHAEL SAUL and CELESTE KATZ

THE DEMOCRATIC RACE for mayor may be turning into a two-man race between Fernando Ferrer and Rep. Anthony Weiner. Weiner zoomed into a statistical tie with Ferrer, capturing 30% of likely Democratic voters, compared with Ferrer's 32%, according to a WNBC/Marist poll released yesterday.

With just days to go before Tuesday's primary election, a runoff seems more likely - a candidate must get 40% of votes to avoid a runoff.

Manhattan Borough President Virginia Fields trailed in third with 15%, followed by City Council Speaker Gifford Miller with 13%.

Weiner, whose "Real Solutions Express" campaign bus made stops at a Staten Island hospital and a Manhattan housing development yesterday, approached the poll with some caution.

"I can tell you that there's a palpable sense that New Yorkers are listening to the idea that campaigns should be about ideas," Weiner said. "I think there's a resonance to what we're talking about."

Lee Miringoff of Marist said the results don't mean Weiner's rivals are tanking - rather that undecided voters are becoming more focused on the race in the final stretch.

"The undecided are pretty much cut in half over the last week, and most of those have gone Weiner's way," Miringoff said.

But it ain't over yet, he warned. "There's still a large number of Democrats who are still making decisions about who to support - and whether to vote altogether."

Ferrer, the former Bronx borough president, said he doesn't pay attention to polls and insisted yesterday he would capture the Democratic nomination.

"Make no mistake: I'm going to win this primary," Ferrer said at City Hall. "And I'm going to win it the old-fashioned way. I'm going to win it appealing to Democrats on core Democratic values."

Asked to give New Yorkers one reason why he should be the nominee over Weiner, Ferrer said he would be a different mayor because he comes from a "different place."

Harking back to the candidates' recent tour of squalid housing, he said: "Some people respond to it intellectually. I respond to it viscerally. I grew up seeing those conditions."

Christy Setzer, a Ferrer spokeswoman, said the campaign's internal polling has Ferrer "much further ahead" of Weiner and "showing momentum." She declined to release specific numbers.

Miller launched his final campaign push for the nomination at a sparsely attended rally in Union Square.

A Miller aide cut the news conference short when reporters asked repeated questions about the speaker's problems with the Campaign Finance Board.

Fields visited senior centers and participated in loading up goods for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.