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This was the scene Wednesday at Hiram Monserrate's former office. His name has been taken off the door but many of his personal items still remain inside the office. His senate website has also been taken down.

Tuesday, the Senate voted 53 to eight to expel Monserrate after a long and heated meeting among the democratic conference.

The Queens Democrat was convicted of a misdemeanor for dragging his girlfriend through his apartment lobby. If he had been convicted of a felony, it would have meant immediate removal from office.

While deciding Monserrate's fate in the legislature, Senators inside the more than six hour meeting tell us tempers flared throughout. In fact, we're told at one point things nearly turned physical between two downstate senators.

In the end, the senate adopted a resolution calling for immediate expulsion. Manhattan Senator Eric Schniederman chaired the committee that made the recommendation to expel Monserrate and says expelling a fellow Senator is something you never want to have to do.

"It’s not a happy day to expel someone. It's not something you ever have to want to do. The circumstances of his case and the course of conduct was really pretty grisly stuff. So I can't say it was a pleasant experience, I'm glad we're moving on now,” said Eric Schneiderman, (D) Senate, Manhattan.

Monserrate has vowed to fight the senate's decision in court. Meanwhile, Governor Paterson has called for a special election to fill that now empty senate seat for March 16th.