: 1230140354

Passions flared when a local domestic-violence advocacy group defended embattled City Councilman and State Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona) on Monday outside his Corona office.

“As a woman, I am here to empower women who are victims of domestic violence, but I am also here to empower a man who has always stood by my side on the issue of domestic violence,” Martha Flores-Vazquez, director of Community Prevention Alternatives for Families in Crisis, said.

Monserrate, 41, was arrested early Friday morning for allegedly slashing his girlfriend, Karla Giraldo, 30, across the face with shards of broken glass after a dispute at his Jackson Heights home. Monserrate was charged with second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

Vasquez, whose group received $37,500 through a City Council grant sponsored by Monserrate, claimed she had spoken Giraldo’s family after the arrest during Monday’s emotional rally. The family insisted the injuries were accidental, according to Vasquez.

“Hiram Monserrate has an innate sense of nonviolence,” Vasquez said. “His demeanor does not constitute violence. He is an advocate for women who are victims of domestic violence.”

And while Monserrate has in fact advocated for victims of domestic violence and supported groups like Vasquez’s through the City Council, past allegations and statements have raised questions about his temperament.

Monserrate was arrested on Sept. 11, 2001 and charged with trying to run over a tow-truck operator who was repossessing his car. The former cop and Marine also claimed to suffer from anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress disorder in a disability claim filed after he left the New York City Police Department.

The criminal complaint alleges that Monserrate struck Giraldo after breaking a glass in his hand, causing a laceration around her left eye that required 20-stitches to close. But Giraldo later withdrew her statement and urged prosecutors to drop the charges.

Monserrate has resolutely denied wrongdoing, claiming that Giraldo was injured after he tripped into her while holding a glass of water in his hand.

“As the result of an unfortunate accident involving myself and someone whom I care for deeply and love, I have been charged with offenses that I did not commit and am not capable of committing,” he said in a statement. “As a son, a brother and a father, these accusations are offensive, and they are crushing on a personal level. Nonetheless, I whole-heartedly look forward to all of the facts being brought to light during this legal process.”

But critics of the senator-to-be aren’t buying it.

“This case is playing out as so many domestic violence cases do, the one charged with the crime says the stabbing was an accident and the person who was injured refuses to cooperate with prosecutors,” Sonia Ossorio, president of the National Organization for Women in New York City, said. “Regardless of whether he ends up with a felony conviction or a misdemeanor, he is unfit to hold office.”

Likewise, Monserrate’s political opponents, looking to capitalize on the drama amid an already contentious battle for control of Albany, made similar calls for his resignation.

“It is clear that these charges, if true, prove that he is entirely unfit to represent our community in Albany, having betrayed his constituents in an abhorrent, disgusting and thuggish manner. Monserrate cannot be trusted to make the laws he so cruelly and brutishly breaks,” Marie Lynch, a Queens Republican district leader and chair of the 36th Assembly District, said. “Senate Democratic leader Malcolm Smith must join with those calling for State Senator-elect Hiram Monserrate to resign in the wake of his arrest on assault charges.”

Monserrate was released on $2,500 cash-bail and is expected to return to court on Jan. 16. If convicted, he faces up to 7 years in prison and expulsion from the senate.