NYC Council District 39 Race: Mamnun Haq Seeks Seat

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Voters in New York City's 39th Council District, which extends from the Columbia Waterfront District down to Borough Park, will see seven names on their ballots when they vote in the June 22 primary election.

One of those names will be Mamnun Haq, a former cab driver who founded the New York Taxi Workers Alliance and now works as a Community Health Worker and Program Associate at NYU.

Patch reached out to all candidates in the election to create these profiles. Haq's responses are below:

Age (as of Election Day)

58

Position Sought

City Council District 39

Party Affiliation

Democrat

Neighborhood of residence

Kensington

Family

We're a family of five – my wife Fatema and I have been married for over thirty years. I'm a proud parent of multiples! Twin boy and girl, they're Hasaan and Hasiba and are 28 years old. My youngest son, Haseen, is currently in high school and seventeen years old. Our family has been in district 39 for over 25 years.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

Bachelor's Degree – Liberal Arts (I studied in Bangladesh)

Occupation

I've had the true pleasure and joy of working at NYU School of Medicine's Center for the Study of Asian American Health for 13 years as a Community Health Worker and Program Associate. I work directly with Bangladeshi and South Asian immigrants and community members in helping them manage and prevent chronic health issues. Over the years, I've built incredible, long-term relationships not only with our participants but their communities. Mosque congregants and leaders, local doctors, small minority owned businesses and grassroots organizations in neighborhoods across the city, including Kensington, have all stepped up to bridge the severe issues that Bangladeshi and other immigrants face in NYC.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

N/A

Campaign website

mamnunforcouncil.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I’m a labor organizer, a public health advocate, an immigrant, and a working class New Yorker. My run for NYC Council is an extension of my life’s work – I truly believe that everyday New Yorkers should be represented by everyday New Yorkers. I know first-hand what it’s like to worry about your next rent payment or to take a second job to cover the basics – even with a full-time job at NYU, I was still driving a cab on Sundays before the pandemic to cover my expenses. We need that kind of personal experience in government because the personal is political. We’re at a vital turning point in NYC and as a seasoned organizer with institutional knowledge and grassroots experience, I believe I can create effective change and bring a much needed perspective to city government.

As a cab driver, I quickly saw and experienced the hardships of the work – long hours, low pay, exploitation by brokers, and a dangerous work environment overall. My own experience, and the experience of my fellow cabbies, encouraged me to co-found the New York Taxi Workers’ Alliance, the largest taxi drivers union in the country. I worked fiercely for drivers rights including co-organizing two of the largest taxi cab strikes in New York City and advocating for the Taxi Drivers Protection Act after a passenger stabbed me with a 10 inch hunting knife. The act was finally passed in 2014 by the NYC council.

After 15 years, I left my full-time work as a driver and began working in public health as a Community Health Worker, working directly with Bangladeshi and South Asian New Yorkers. My job is to help them manage and prevent chronic health issues and navigate our complicated healthcare system. But, it’s so much more than that. Many of my clients are limited English speakers, new immigrants, low-income, and undocumented – along with health issues, our work as community health workers has led to securing housing, navigating SNAP and health insurance benefits, and even teaching clients how to use the subway.

In District 39, I’ve worked directly with friends, neighbors, and community members to increase civic participation through Participatory Budgeting, which I helped start in District 39, improve our streets and parks, and ensure better resource access for our community. As an executive member of Community Board 12, I’ve helped oversee land use and rezoning, city budget processes, addressed community complaints, and fostered interfaith relations between Muslim and Jewish neighbors.

All of these experiences have shaped my understanding of our district and put me in a unique position to represent our neighbors.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing our district is housing. Rents continue to rise, development and gentrification pushes neighbors in areas like Gowanus and Kensington out of the district, and there is a lack of resources for English limited and immigrant neighbors. If elected, I will provide protection for renters by offering free mobile housing clinics to provide legal counsel and education about tenant rights, work to cancel all rent fully and automatically from the start of the crisis to its conclusion as well as back rent, penalize ‘money judgement’ rent extortion by landlords, expand eligibility for rent relief to include everyone who cannot afford it, irrespective of immigration status, raise fines for negligent landlords, use tax policy to curb speculative behavior by landlords and lenders, reduce administrative and financial hurdles for basement apartment conversion, and advocate for rent subsidies for tenants as well.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I’m the only immigrant running for a seat in District 39. English isn’t my first language and I didn’t have the privilege of going to school here, but I didn't suffer in silence. Instead, I spent the last 20+ years fighting for cab drivers' rights, for better healthcare for immigrants, and public spaces, civic involvement, and more in District 39. As a labor organizer, I co-organized over 20,000 drivers, led the largest taxi strikes in NYC, and negotiated with commissioners and city government to improve working conditions, increase wages, and protect drivers. I’m the only candidate who has decades of grassroots experience rooted in community and rooted in the lived realities of working class New Yorkers. Over the last year, people across the city have advocated for equity and fought for immigrants and communities of color. District 39 has the opportunity to elect someone who not only advocates for these communities, but is of these communities, has genuinely experienced the issues that need fixing, and has tried to solve them. I believe I am that candidate and my record shows I not only can identify problems but can work directly with communities to organize for real change.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

My platform is rooted in workers’ rights and improving healthcare access across the city. As an advocate for workers’ rights, I’m invested in ensuring workers are safe and protected in a post-pandemic world. I want to strengthen worker protection laws to address systemic abuses like violation of environmental and safety standards, strengthen legal protections for the right to organize and collectively bargain without fear of retaliation, provide hazard pay to frontline workers, and create a citywide fund that supports undocumented workers. I also want to help put yellow cab drivers back to work by forgiving predatory loans for medallions, decreasing medallion transfer fees, building a health and wellness fund for drivers by adding a small meter surcharge similar to how the MTA receives funds through yellow cabs, and lowering medallion lease costs. Additionally, we need to provide full employment status to gig economy workers, including critical protections like paid sick leave, unemployment benefits, and right to collective bargaining.
It’s clear that we also need to expand healthcare access beyond the traditional hospital and clinic service and focus on preventative care and health management. We can’t wait for the next global pandemic – we need to address the issues that communities are already facing and will continue to face.

This is where Community Health Workers (CHW’s) come in. Community health workers are frontline public health workers who are trusted members of their communities and have familiarity with their neighborhoods. They’re connectors, facilitators, and motivators who help mitigate chronic health issues and connect community based and clinical care to those who need the services most. CHW’s have been shown to reduce the burden of illness in patients with chronic health issues and help them manage their health better. My plan is to recruit, hire, and train members in low income communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities to become frontline health workers who can help mitigate chronic health issues, prevent chronic health issues, and support mental health. This is a program that can, and should, also be adapted and utilized for our aging neighbors and neighbors with disabilities. As a CHW myself, I know how imperative this kind of support is to a client and providing more of these resources will not only help bridge the healthcare divide but ensure that we fold in our aging neighbors into larger public health initiatives. This program will provide opportunity for job growth, help communities of color step into the middle class, and improve healthcare access and future health issues. Within this CHW program, mental health would be treated as top line issue. As we come out of this current pandemic, we need to recognize that mental health crises are increasing and communities need culturally competent care.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I’ve had my ear to the ground and a pulse on our district and wider NYC community for 20+ years.
I co-founded the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, the largest taxicab union in the United States, organized two of the largest taxi strikes in NYC, and advocated for and helped pass the Taxi Drivers Protection Act.

I’ve been on Community Board 12 for over a decade and have overseen rezoning/land issues, park and public space developments, community complaints, street safety issues and more.
I helped start and expand Participatory Budgeting in District 39, including helping schools like P.S. 230 secure funding for new air conditioning, increase voter participation among Bangladeshis, and translated ballots to Bangla to bridge language barriers.

I single handedly collected letters of support and worked with Council Member Brad Lander's office to transform an empty triangle into the Avenue C Plaza, 24 hours before it would become a parking lot instead.

I worked directly with Muslim and Jewish neighbors to rally against hate crimes, advocate for our safety, and ensure our communities were not under further surveillance.