Hiram Monserrate to run for his old seat

Hiram Monserrate is running for office again, and sent a statement out on Thursday seeking to atone for his past.  Photo via Restore Roosevelt Coalition

By Ryan Schwach

Hiram Monserrate, one of Queens’ most polarizing political figures, is again running for the State Senate – but this time he is being more upfront about his past, including his expulsion from the office he is running for again.

Monserrate, a former member of the City Council and State Senate, announced his bid for the Senate on Thursday. He’ll attempt to unseat State Senator Jessica Ramos – a former staffer of his – in District 13, and also defeat Jessica González-Rojas, the local assemblymember who launched her campaign against Ramos last year.

A former City Councilmember and State Senator, Monserrate was expelled from the state legislature for pleading guilty to a reckless assault misdemeanor charge and was later convicted on corruption charges stemming from his time in the Council.

The longtime Democratic district leader has run for the Senate, the Assembly and the Council in the years since.

In December, he filed to run for his old Senate seat, a bid he made official on Thursday.

This time around though, he says he is trying to articulate his regrets over his past mistakes more clearly than his previous go arounds.

“While serving in public office, I committed serious personal and professional failures,” Monserrate said in a letter published on Thursday night. “I was convicted of crimes. I lost my seat, my reputation, and my freedom. Those consequences were deserved, and I take responsibility for them.”

He said in the letter that he doesn’t want anyone to forget his past, and said the ultimate decision lies with the voters.

“Skepticism is fair,” he said. “Public trust is not owed. It must be earned. Ultimately, this choice belongs to the voters, and I respect it.”

He told the Eagle on Friday that he feels he has discussed his checkered past before, but not in as clear terms as he did this week.

“I clearly accept full responsibility for the mistakes that I have made in my past,” he said. “Those mistakes had a tremendous cost on me, personally, on my family, and I wanted to make that clear. I believe in the past, I have spoken about this, but I don't think I have made it as clear as I did last night.”

He added that he is “not the same Hiram that [he] was 20 years ago.”

The 58-year-old district leader’s previous attempts at a political comeback, although all unsuccessful, have all seen him pull in a couple of thousand votes, but never enough to truly challenge his opponent.

The last time he appeared on a ballot was the 2024 Democratic Primary for Assembly District 35. He lost to now-Assemblymember Larinda Hooks by less than 1,000 votes in an extremely low turnout election, enough for 40 percent of the vote.

In recent years, Monserrate’s efforts as a volunteer district leader have centered around quality-of-life issues along the Roosevelt Avenue corridor, known as much for being a cultural landmark of Queens diversity as it is for its issues with prostitution and illegal vending.

Monserrate was fully behind Mayor Eric Adams’ Operation Restore Roosevelt, an effort to address those issues that saw mixed results, and even called for the state to deploy state troopers to intervene.

“Roosevelt Avenue is probably the most glaring example of a total breakdown in what the government should be doing to keep communities safe and vibrant,” he said.

The enforcement around Roosevelt Avenue led to the closing of a few illegal brothels and double-digit declines in crime.

He is now reaching out to the federal government to intervene on a new issue – antisemitism.

Monserrate recently filed a federal civil rights complaint to the Department of Justice asking them to investigate graffiti and vandalism around Jackson Heights, including the vandalizing of a menorah in Travers Park.

He believes a single group of individuals was responsible for the graffiti, which ranges from swastikas on scaffolding to the word “Gaza” being spraypainted around Travers Park.

“We cannot trivialize this, because these actors, some of them, will eventually evolve into more serious and dangerous acts,” he said. “We allowed this to ferment and this to grow without calling it out immediately.”

His partners in his effort include retired CUNY Professor Sam Kleinplatz and some local religious leaders.

The DOJ has yet to respond to the complaint, which was sent on Jan. 10.

These most recent efforts set Monserrate up toward yet another attempt at a political comeback, and a second chance in the eyes of the community.

Like his previous attempts however, that may be difficult.

His opponents in the race are well known, and González-Rojas has pulled in significant support from the left, as well as establishment Democrats

Ramos, a former mayoral candidate, has a large public profile, despite falling out of favor with many former allies over her endorsement of former Governor Andrew Cuomo and her rejection of the Metropolitan Park casino plan.

As far as Monserrate’s new bid, the current office holder thinks the voters have already spoken.

“I believe in redemption, and as a woman of faith I believe people can change,” Ramos said in a statement to the Eagle. “But voters also deserve leaders who have earned the trust to serve in government.”

“Hiram Monserrate was expelled from the New York State Senate after being convicted of a serious crime and violating the public trust,” she added. “He has sought a return to public office in multiple recent elections, and voters have consistently declined to send him back to government.”