Alan Jay Gerson (born November 1, 1957) is a former

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

member of the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

, first elected in 2001, and reelected in 2005, to represent the 1st district in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Prior to that Gerson served as Chair of

Manhattan Community Board 2 The Manhattan Community Board 2 is a New York City community board encompassing the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, West Village, South Village, NoHo, SoHo, Little Italy, NoLIta, and a portion of Chinatown in the borough of Manhattan. It i ...

from 1998 to 1999, serving on its board from 1990 to 2001. Gerson lost the Democratic Primary to

Margaret Chin Margaret S. Chin (born May 26, 1953) is a Hong Kong American politician who served as a council member for the 1st district of the New York City Council. A Democrat, she and Queens Council member Peter Koo comprised the Asian American deleg ...

on September 15, 2009, following previous challenges by her in the 2001 and 2004 primaries. The district is located in Lower Manhattan and includes

Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stre ...

, portions of the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Traditionally an im ...

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

Little Italy Little Italy is a general name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian culture. There are s ...

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, and the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

.NYC Council - District 1 - Alan J. Gerson
/ref> Gerson is a lifelong New York City resident and graduate of P.S. 41, I.S. 70, and

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

(1975). He graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

and

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

from

Columbia College of Columbia University Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King' ...

(1979Columbia College Today: Fall 1999: Class Notes
/ref>), and was a

Harlan Fiske Stone Harlan is a given name and a surname which may refer to: Surname *Bob Harlan (born 1936 Robert E. Harlan), American football executive *Bruce Harlan (1926–1959), American Olympic diver *Byron B. Harlan (1886–1949), American politician *Byron G ...

Scholar from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. He was an aide to

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

Member William Passannante. Gerson practiced law with

Kelley Drye & Warren Kelley Drye & Warren LLP is an international law firm founded in 1836 and is one of the oldest firms in the United States. It operates in New York; Washington; Los Angeles; Chicago; Stamford, Connecticut; Parsippany, New Jersey; Houston, Texas; ...

for 18 years.

References

External links

Official Campaign Site for Alan J. Gerson
New York City Council members New York (state) Democrats Stuyvesant High School alumni 1957 births Living people Columbia College (New York) alumni Lawyers from New York City People from Manhattan {{NewYork-politician-stub