Disgraced former State Senator and esteemed pizzaiolo Hiram Monserrate pleaded guilty to corruption charges yesterday after being indicted for misusing taxpayer money during his past stint as a councilmember. Monserrate's last publicized fling with the criminal justice system was in 2010, when he was convicted of misdemeanor assault after slashing then-girlfriend Karla Giraldo in the face. This time around, Monserrate's accused of siphoning over $100,000 in City Council "slush" funds in 2006, which he allegedly used to finance a campaign for higher office. more ›

How much did it cost the State to oust abusive boyfriend and all-around-special-guy Hiram Monserrate from the State Senate? Would you believe $376,464? more ›

Maybe Hiram Monserrate just likes to cut things? From the looks of things, the disgraced political hack—who was infamously ousted by the State Senate after slashing his girlfriend's face with broken glass and dragging her through a building lobby—is financially ruined. Having lost his Senate comeback bid last March, Monserrate has reportedly been unemployed and living off his police pension of $26,000 a year. As a result, a judge might let him reduce the amount of child support he sends to his ex-wife and autistic son. more ›

With that federal investigation going on, ex-State Senator Hiram Monserrate doesn't really need his campaign office anymore. And now a new group has moved in to serve the community: Papaya Pizza! A comments contest is going on at the Daily News over the photo of the new pizza joint, with zingers like, "Finally, someone who can deliver" and "Hiram's Pizza- a CUT above the rest!" We would have gone with "the best slice in town," or perhaps "so good it'll shut down Albany." more ›

Hiram Monserrate is many things: An ex-cop, an ex-City Council member, an ex-State Senator, a convicted girlfriend slasher, and a subject of a federal corruption investigation. And now he's a legal bill deadbeat. His defense lawyer, celebrity lawyer Joseph Tacopina, says that Monserrate hasn't paid him anything, so Tacopina is asking that the judge remove him from the federal corruption case or name him Monserrate's court-appointed lawyer, so he at least get something (even if it's just $125/hour, which is a step down from his usual $750/hour fee). more ›

It's a common misconception that former State Senator Hiram Monserrate was cast out of the senate for slashing his girlfriend's face with broken glass and dragging her through his building lobby by the hair. Sure, he was ultimately convicted on a misdemeanor charge of intending to injure Karla Giraldo, and surveillance footage seems to show a scene straight out of a Hagar the Horrible cartoon. But that's just what THEY want you to think, insists Giraldo, who has filed a $35 million lawsuit accusing prosecutors, cops and hospital staffers of conspiring to destroy her innocent beau. more ›

After being indicted on corruption charges Tuesday, ousted State Senator Hiram Monserrate is now facing additional legal woes over donations to his legal defense fund while he was in the Senate (at the time he was futilely fighting other criminal charges relating to his assault of his then-girlfriend). Also, he has the sniffles. Hiram, this video is for you. Get well soon! more ›

Ousted State Senator and abusive boyfriend Hiram Monserrate was slapped with mail fraud charges yesterday by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who accuses the down-trending political hack of funneling money meant for a nonprofit into his losing State Senate campaign in 2006. "Worthy nonprofits are supposed to have access to public money because they are meant to be a resource for communities, not a piggy bank for politicians," said Bharara in a statement. "Public officials who act like they are above the law may get away with it for a while, but eventually we will find you and we will prosecute you." Looking on the bright side as he left court yesterday, Monserrate shrugged off the charges as fodder for his memoirs. more ›

State Senator Hiram Monserrate surrendered this morning to federal authorities who are investigating a not-for-profit agency that received hundreds of thousands of tax dollars while Monserrate was a member of the City Council. Sources tell NY1 that the investigators believe campaign workers from Monserrate's first failed Senate run used public money to get signatures for petitions, register voters, and perform other campaign jobs. more ›

Hiram Monserrate, whom you may remember from such incidents as slashing his girlfriend with a broken glass and the coup that crippled Albany last summer, was voted off State Senate Island in February. Since then, he's been keeping busy trying (and failing) to win his old Senate seat back, boxing, and readying a campaign for the Assembly. And the Post reports that he's been doing all this with the help of his old Senate parking placard, which Senators are supposed to turn in when they leave the Senate. Why do people keep hassling Monserrate with their little rules? more ›

Just what we needed this election season—former State Senator and convicted girlfriend slasher Hiram Monserrate! Monserrate is running for the 39th District seat, which was vacated by Jose Peralta when Peralta beat Monserrate in a special State Senate election in March. The Daily News says the disgraced pol's petition had 823 valid signatures and got this quote: "I am extremely humbled by the tremendous amount of support that we received from the community during the petition drive. I look forward to making them and everyone in my community proud." He will be running against Francisco Moya, who says Monserrate and his supporters have harassed his. Hey, at least they weren't wielding broken glasses! more ›

Former State Senator Hiram Monserrate is not stopping at boxing to remake his image, but rather is looking to be a contender of a different kind—for a seat in the State Assembly. After month-long rumors of an attempted run, The Times confirms Monserrate filed nominating petitions on Tuesday to be placed on the Democratic primary ballot. The move is notwithstanding a busy schedule of career-ruining antics that include heading a crippling coup in Albanyin June of 2009, and the coup de grâce, some domestic violence perpetrated against girlfriend Karla Giraldo in December of 2008, which led to Monserrate's removal from the State Senate. more ›

It wasn't enough that his own political party wouldn't want to touch him with a ten-foot pole, nor that arch-nemesis AG Andrew Cuomo ("The Prince of Darkness") is planning on filing criminal charges against him soon; no, Pedro Espada wouldn't be satisfied unless he pissed off holy men. Bronx priest Father George Stewart has been railing against Espada to his congregation, accusing him of using his church, St. Brendan's Church in Norwood, as a prop to gain support at the ballot box. more ›

Now that Hiram Monserrate is allowed to see girlfriend Karla Giraldo again, he's not wasting time getting back to the delicate art of seduction. The Daily News reports that right after a judge modified his restraining order, he whisked her back to her apartment so she could change for their romantic dinner. As he waited, he remarked, "You always gotta be patient with women, right?" You know, unless you find another man's PBA card in her purse. Then they were off to Cavo in Astoria, where he "fed [her] olive dip on a piece of pita bread." How did this Casanova manage to stay single this long?! more ›

With criminal charges about to drop on State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr., the head of the state Democratic party wants to oust him from the party! Won't anyone stand up for the man accused of siphoning $14 million from a taxpayer-funded non-profit, among other things? Fear not, Pedro; here's Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr. to the rescue! In a press release, Diaz called the push to oust Espada an example of "selective prosecution of Hispanics." After all, isn't it interesting that out of all the Albany lawmakers are under investigation, the only one being pushed out is Hispanic? It's just like that time the Senate expelled Hiram Monserrate—which had everything to do with his race and nothing to do with that time he cut up his girlfriend's face and dragged her through an apartment lobby. more ›

Now that girlfriend Karla Giraldo is no longer "under any coercion or undue influence" of everyone's favorite slasher Hiram Monserrate, the same judge who acquitted Monserrate of felony charges has downgraded the order of protection that has kept the two apart. How romantic! Giraldo said today, "I love him and I want to be with him." more ›

The five Democratic hopefuls for Attorney General will have some sparring ahead in their future endeavors to replace current AG Andrew Cuomo, but at least there is one thing right now that unites them all, beyond party lines and policies: a distinct disdain for one Hiram Monserrate. more ›

Our favorite girlfriend-slashing former State Senator, Hiram Monserrate, the first member of the Senate expelled by a vote of his own colleagues since 1861, has recently suggested that he's gearing up to run for an Assembly seat. And it wouldn't be classic, classy Monserrate were there no report of him doing something mildly repugnant, like say, screaming obscenities outside of a Church. more ›

A year ago today, State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. and then-Senate Hiram Monserrate ditched the Democrats and joined the Republican minority to give the Republicans the majority in a crazy coup that paralyzed the Legislature, thanks to drama, locked chambers and infighting—and a lack of a lieutenant governor! And you know what, Espada, who ended the coup when he was made Senate Majority Leader, says he doesn't mind shutting down the government again. more ›

It's been too long since we've had any Hiram Monserrate news, so here we go. The former State Senator, whom you may remember from such incidents as slashing his girlfriend with a broken glass and the coup that crippled Albany last summer, may really be considering an Assembly run. While there were rumors of this possibility in March, now that Bryan Pu-Folkes has dropped out of running for Jose Peralta's old Assembly seat, Monserrate's name is once again in the mix of possible contenders. more ›

Hey ladies, do you have "a thing" for fat political hacks who drag their lovers around by their hair and slash their faces with broken glass? If so, we've got just the guy for you. His name is Hiram Monserrate, and he is back on the market! more ›

As disgraced State Senator Hiram Monserrate bragged about his uppercut during a press conference yesterday, his former chief of staff was being arraigned by the Queens DA after an ugly road rage incident near the near the Queensboro Bridge, during which he allegedly asked a female cop, "Why don’t you do your job, you fat bitch?" The insult led to further problems because Wayne Mahlke, 48, didn't have a valid driver's license, something he tried to explain away by pulling rank—which he also doesn't possess, having been unemployed since his boss's flameout. more ›

Disgraced State Senator and girlfriend beater Hiram Monserrate, who got his ass handed to him in a special election in March, is committed to keeping in the spotlight as he tries to rehabilitate his image and perhaps run for State Assembly. To that end, his first major public appearance since losing to Jose Peralta will take place in a boxing ring. Laugh if you must, but the man's just doing what he loves. more ›

On Tuesday night, disgraced State Senator Hiram Monserrate conceded defeat to Assemblyman Jose Peralta, after Peralta thoroughly Heisman'd Monserrate in his quixotic attempt to reclaim his old Senate seat. During Peralta's celebration, City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Queens) crowed, "This is the final nail in Hiram Monserrate's coffin, and we are burying him!" Well, he may have slept in yesterday, but look who's back from the dead—and lumbering toward the Assembly seat now vacated by Peralta! more ›

No big surprise here, but big satisfaction: Ousted State Senator and girlfriend-beater Hiram Monserrate got his ass handed to him yesterday by Jose Peralta in the special election in Queens for Monserrate’s former seat. With 94 percent of the vote counted last night, unofficial returns from the 13th State Senate District showed Peralta with 66 percent of the vote, dwarfing Monserrate's 27 percent, the Times reports. At a restaurant in East Elmhurst, Peralta put things in perspective, echoing Gerald Ford post-Watergate: "Tonight we put an end to dysfunction. Our nightmare is over." (Some might say the nightmare is merely shifting to a bad dream.) more ›

After a contentious, nasty battle, Democratic Assemblyman Jose Peralta won the special election for the 13th District in Queens, beating Hiram Monserrate. Monserrate was voted to the seat in 2008, but his colleagues voted to expel him last month after his October 2009 conviction of misdemeanor assault for slashing his girlfriend. With 66% of the precincts reporting, Peralta has 65.6% of the vote, Monserrate has 27.14% and Republican candidate Robert Beltrani got 7.21%. more ›

Today's the day voters in the 13th Senate District, which includes East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Corona, as well as parts of Elmhurst and Woodside, go to the polls to decide who gets the State Senate seat that formerly belonged to girlfriend-slasher Hiram Monserrate. And speaking of Monserrate's lady friend, Karla Giraldo has made a last-minute appeal to voters on behalf of the man who once "accidentally" cut her face with a glass and dragged her through a lobby. We're still trying to decipher her blinking to understand what she's really saying to voters in Morse code: more ›

With a special election for his old Queens seat scheduled for tomorrow, expelled former senator Hiram Monserrate is down 42 points in the polls with Democrat Jose Peralta favored to win. Monserrate was convicted of slashing his girlfriend Karla Giraldo in 2008, briefly abandoned the Democratic Party and voted for legislation to ban gay marriage, but some critics say Peralta is hardly an improvement. According to the Daily News, he's accused of directing $500,000 to a long-defunct nonprofit (he claims he realized his mistake and got most of it back), but that's not all. more ›

Protesters drew red lipstick marks across their faces every time girlfriend-beater Hiram Monserrate said the word "cut" during a debate last night at a school in Jackson Heights. The booing and heckling got so intense that Monserrate, who was expelled from the State Senate after a misdemeanor conviction for cutting his girlfriend's face with a broken glass, demanded security eject one protester. "We're not doing this," said Monserrate, according to WNYC. "Eject him. Disorderly conduct." more ›

Yesterday ousted State Senator Hiram Monserrate held a press conference to formally announce his bid to get his old job back in a special election Tuesday. After some laughable rhetoric about how voters should send him to Albany to keep crime down in their community, the girlfriend beater addressed allegations that he jacked his campaign logo from the Obama campaign. "This logo is similar to the slogan that they used, but slightly different, because the logo actually is a 'Q,' which stands for the great borough of Queens," Monserrate told reporters. "If folks had really analyzed it, they would have seen it." It's almost as convincing as Vanilla Ice's argument that he didn't rip off "Under Pressure"—but will voters buy it? more ›