Soccer Mom: Unplugged

In a moment that went far beyond the usual frank dialogue among politicians, the Brooklyn congressman publicly laced into a fellow Democrat - using language that would make a sailor blush.

"Do you have a f------ problem with me?" the 2005 mayoral candidate said to state Sen. Carl Kruger at an annual Mill Basin fund-raiser Thursday night, witnesses said.

Weiner, thought to be an early mayoral 2009 favorite, also called the Brooklyn senator a "p---y," witnesses said.

"I'm going to give you a bad hair day," Kruger shot back, apparently vowing revenge.

The exchange, which occurred in the lobby of Temple Shalom, was prompted by Weiner's fierce opposition to acting legend Paul Newman's proposal to bring Grand Prix-style racing to Brooklyn.

"They were screaming at each other. It got very close, chest to chest and nose to nose," said one shocked observer.

Kruger supports Newman's proposal to bring auto racing to the long-closed Floyd Bennett Field in Gateway National Recreation Area. Weiner has called it "illegal."

But what apparently annoyed Weiner was an earlier incident during an April 21 briefing on the Champ car project by Newman himself.

At that briefing at the Brooklyn Marriott, witnesses said Kruger tore into a young Weiner staffer in front of the roomful of honchos after he conveyed Weiner's objections to the project.

"It was totally inappropriate. He was just a kid and Kruger started screaming at him in front of everyone," said a local pol who was at that meeting.

"Weiner was just giving it back to Kruger. If he did it to a member of my staff I wouldn't have waited a week," quipped the pol.

Weiner acknowledged he blew a fuse at the 41st Assembly District Democratic Club dinner, but stressed that it was over his staffer's treatment by Kruger.

"The conversation I had with Sen. Kruger, I'm sure made it very clear to him that I will not tolerate him abusing my staff," said Weiner.

"I don't recall using any profanity. However if the language was too salty for some ears I regret that."

Kruger said he was "shocked" by the outburst and said that at the previous meeting he was just trying to send a clear message to Weiner through his staffer. "His temper is a known fact, but to act as he did in a temple in front of a host of community leaders, I thought was very inappropriate."

One attendee at the dinner acknowledged that staffers "had to close the door to the banquet room because the dinner was going on and everybody could hear it."

When Weiner ran for mayor last year, his mother, a retired public schoolteacher, occasionally appeared with him - making headlines once when she publicly corrected her son during an education speech.

Political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said he didn't think the eruption would hurt Weiner's career - but tangling with Kruger could pose problems.

"Weiner is showing he can't be pushed around and that's a fine thing, but Kruger ... tries to settle all scores behind the scenes," Sheinkopf said. "That's the way politics works in that part of Brooklyn."

With Jotham Sederstrom