Queens Bochinche: Disgraced Hiram Monserrate files district leader petitions

He’s back.

It’s not a misprint. You read correctly. Hiram Monserrate, the disgraced former New York state senator and New York City councilman, filed petitions around 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 14. The serial betrayer of the public’s trust intends to run for district leader in the 35th Assembly District in Queens County. This is Monserrate’s first formal attempt to jump back into politics.

Monserrate, who turned 49 on July 12, could face a challenge from the Queens County Democratic organization. The ex-felon can also expect a pile-on of criticism and condemnation from elected officials and editorial pages throughout the city.

The Queens Democrat was convicted in December of 2012 for misusing about $100,000 in city money to help pay for one of his Senate campaigns. In 2006 and 2007, Monserrate steered about $300,000 in City Council discretionary funds to Libre, a nonprofit group that he controlled. The embezzled funds were used to pay members of the group for time spent working on Monserrate’s failed 2006 State Senate campaign. For these crimes, Monserrate did two years at a federal penitentiary in Canaan, Pennsylvania.

As bad as Monserrate’s fraud conviction was, the real headline-grabbing story happened in his Queens apartment on December 19, 2008, when he gave his then girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, a slash over her left eye so deep that it cut into her skull. According to published reports, it was a fight between the couple that went down after Monserrate, an ex-Marine and ex-NYPD officer, found another man’s business card in Giraldo’s purse. Monserrate always maintained that it was an accident. He slipped with a glass of water that he was giving her to get her to clam down. That’s his story and he stuck to it.

While Monserrate escaped a felony conviction for slicing Giraldo’s face during the argument, he was convicted on a misdemeanor assault charge and sentenced to three years of probation and hundreds of hours of community service.

If Monserrate remains on the ballot and goes on to be elected the male district leader, a source says he is expected to run for a New York City Council seat next year, though it’s unclear which Council seat he is interested in.

While the district leader title doesn't have the stature – nor the salary – of his two previous elected posts, does give Monserrate a pathway back into the public eye.

If Monserrate does pursue a Council seat, expect a spotlight to be shone on the current City Council Finance Committee Chair, Julissa Ferreras, for the role she played in the Libre scam (Ferreras was Monserrate’s chief of staff when he served in the Council).

Monserrate has put up some flyers in the district, but has not yet started campaigning for the September 13 primary.