Please answer the following question: Facts: - profession: lawyer - successor: margaret chin - party: democratic - predecessor: kathryn freed - term end: december 2009 - constituency: manhattan square area , south village , battery park city , : wall street area , south street seaport area , city soho hall area , little italy , chinatown , lower east , side noho , tribeca , washington - term start: january 2002 - name: alan j. gerson - alma mater: stuyvesant high school columbia college columbia law school Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of alan gerson .
Answer:
alan jay gerson -lrb- born november 1 , 1957 -rrb- is a former democratic party member of the new york city council , elected in 2001 to represent the 1st council district in manhattan .gerson lost the democratic primary to margaret chin on september 15 , 2009 .the district is located in lower manhattan and includes tribeca , portions of the lower east side , chinatown , little italy , greenwich village , and the financial district .gerson is a lifelong new york city resident and graduate of p.s. 41 , i.s. 70 , and stuyvesant high school -lrb- 1975 -rrb- .he graduated phi beta kappa and magna cum laude from columbia college of columbia university -lrb- 1979 -rrb- , and was a harlan fiske stone scholar from columbia law school .he was an aide to new york state assembly member william passannante .gerson practiced law with kelley drye & warren for 18 years .