GOP Tries To Block Slasher Senator

The litany of woes for New York Senate Democrats continue. After his arrest last month for slashing his girlfriend with a broken glass, a resolution is being circulated to prevent Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) from taking office this week.

Hiram Monserrate's first day in the state Senate this week is shaping up to be a nasty one, with political opponents already hurling sharp personal barbs. "He's a ticking time bomb and he'll go eventually," said Sen. Martin Golden, a Brooklyn Republican who is circulating a resolution to block the newly elected Queens Dem from taking office. "He's got a rage in him that's pretty crazy."

Monserrate, 41, resigned his City Council seat last week and took an oath as a new senator despite felony charges accusing him of slashing girlfriend Karla Giraldo with broken glass. Giraldo initially told police that Monserrate had cut her, then changed her story to say it was an accident. Monserrate supporters - including Senate Democrats who need his vote in a contentious leadership fight - are talking up the second version of events. A written statement she made to police the day she received 20 stitches "clearly states that it was an accident," a source familiar with the statement said.

Monserrate now claims he was walking towards his girlfriend with a glass of water in his hand and tripped. The original story was that he was furious because he found the business card of a cop in his girlfriend's purse. (Monserrate is a former cop.) The Dems are supporting the new version of events because they desperately need every vote in the fight for Senate Majority Leader, a position that will be critical in the fight for marriage equality in New York.