Former NYPD detective running for Assembly to support Mamdani’s Albany agenda

Retired New York City Police Department Lt. Cmdr. Shamsul Haque is far from the first NYPD veteran to run for elected office, but he may be the first to run on a platform of taxing the rich, reforming the criminal justice system and making public universities tuition-free.

The co-founder of the Bangladeshi American Police Association, Haque spent 21 years with the department – including a decade in internal affairs – before retiring last year. He was inspired by Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign and became a prominent supporter, helping to convince other Muslim NYPD officers to vote for Mamdani. After Mamdani won, he served on the mayor’s community safety transition committee.

Now, he has decided to run for office himself. This week, Haque filed to run for Assembly District 30, a Queens district that includes Woodside, Elmhurst and Maspeth. The district is currently represented by Assembly Member Steven Raga, who is now running for state Senate, freeing up the seat.

The district overwhelmingly supported Mamdani in last year’s Democratic mayoral primary – with 68% voting for Mamdani and just 32% backing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the final round of ranked choice voting – and Haque is pitching himself as someone who will help deliver on Mamdani’s priorities. “I would be a strong supporter of Mamdani’s agenda in Albany. I would be a partner there, and I would do anything and everything to ensure that all of his agenda items are passed in Albany,” he said.

It’s a similar pitch to many of the candidates running this cycle who have been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America. Haque is not a DSA member, but he supports many of the group’s economic proposals – particularly increasing income taxes on New Yorkers making over $1 million a year, free universal child care and free tuition at CUNY. “DSA is unequivocally in favor of taxing the rich, and I am in the same boat,” he said. “They want to help the working-class people, and I’m in the same boat because I, too, come from the working class.”

Haque’s Assembly run will test the growing clout of the Bangladeshi American community, which is the largest Muslim group and a growing Asian group in New York City. If Haque wins, he would be the first Bangladeshi American to serve in the state Legislature. He estimates there are about 4,000 Bangladeshi Americans who are eligible to vote in the district, including more than 3,000 who are registered as Democrats.

Haque sees himself as the symbol of the American dream. “One of the reasons why I’m running is because this city gave me opportunity, and I want to give back to the city,” he told City & State. “I came to America about 35 years ago with about $200 in my pocket. Barely spoke English. I worked as a store clerk, busboy, dishwasher, delivery worker, just trying to survive. But then New York opened the door.”

After earning a GED diploma, he received an associate degree from LaGuardia Community College and a bachelor’s degree from Baruch College. He was elected the head of the entire CUNY student body and served as a student representative on the CUNY board of trustees, where he fought against planned tuition hikes. In the aftermath of 9/11, Haque joined the NYPD, in part to prove his loyalty to his adopted home. He worked for years as a patrol officer and detective before joining the internal affairs bureau, where he investigated use-of-force and misconduct complaints.

Haque has more nuanced views on criminal justice than many of Mamdani’s leftist supporters: He’s broadly supportive of the police but opposed to mass incarceration and in favor of limited criminal justice reforms. “We have to look at the whole criminal justice system in a way that would be beneficial for New York. I cannot fathom how we are the richest nation, the strongest nation, and how we have so many people incarcerated,” he said.

When it comes to NYPD’s recent shooting of Jabez Chakraborty, a 22-year-old Bangladeshi American man who approached officers with a knife while suffering a mental health crisis, he believes the officers were technically justified under the NYPD’s current use-of-force policy, but he also says that the policy should be revised. He echoed Mamdani’s call for Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to drop the charges against Chakraborty.

Haque has similarly nuanced views when it comes to the NYPD’s relationship with federal immigration authorities. “If someone commits serious crime, there must be consequences, but if someone is simply undocumented and working hard, raising a family and contributing to our community, that should be protected, not targeted,” he said. “New York is a city built by immigrants. Our policies must reflect morality, safety and humanity together.”

Haque will not be running unopposed. Somnath Ghimire, a Nepali American community leader, has also filed to run in the Democratic primary. Meanwhile, Brandon Castro, who ran as a Republican and lost to Raga by 20 points two years ago, has also filed to run again – and has picked up the endorsement of former New York City Council Member Robert Holden.