The real life
Manhattan resident who the
Seinfeld TV sitcom character
Kramer was based on. He recently came into his own as a tour operator and candidate for mayor of New York City.
Kenny Kramer seems to share many of the traits of the bumbler he inspired. First and foremost he is a schemer. He wears wild and unkempt hair, although unlike Michael Richards, his is long and flowing. Years before the series began, Kenny was a neighbor of Seinfeld producer Larry David. In the past he had been a stand-up comic and a manager of a Reggae band, and in the late 70’s created an electronic jewelry item that brought him some money.
Near the end of Seinfeld's run, Kramer started a tour bus company and named it Kenny Kramer's real New York tours. The gimmick was that Kramer took tourists to Seinfeld related sites around Manhattan, such as Tom's Restaurant. The venture has been moderately successful, and even inspired a spoof on Seinfeld in which Seinfeld's Kramer starts ‘The Petrerman reality tour’.
In the 2001 election, Kenny Kramer ran as the Libertarian Party candidate for mayor of New York City. His platform was entirely based on one issue, drug legalization, a worth issue IMHO, but not the exclusion of all others – and the reality is that these laws are the prerogative of the state legislature anyway. Regardless, Kramer pressed on with his one issue message, and was often profiled in both alternative news sources and the mainstream media. In the end he received less than 1% of the vote.