Sen. Hiram Monserrate may have successfully avoided being hit by a major judicial bullet, but it's a short-lived victory.

The word is already rapidly spreading throughout the New York state community's grass-roots level rank-and-file electorate: If any current member of the state Legislature, despite his or her political affiliations, refuses to publicly call for, or to vote for, the immediate expulsion of Hiram Monserrate from the Senate and to eventually give the people the much- needed power of recall, every one of them can fully expect to make their own final exit after the 2010 elections.

Simply put: If Hiram Monserrate's continued presence in the state Senate is permitted, it's a direct insult to every New Yorker, and subsequently, the price of the public blacklash that materializes will be paid by all of the other sitting legislators, bar none.

Hiram Monserrate's participation with Sen. Pedro Espada in creating the June 8 coup debacle, along with the ensuing month-long destructive legislative gridlock, and now this latest disgusting episode, is far too much for the taxpaying voters of this state to accept.

ANTHONY BISCOTTI

Amsterdam