Gary Ackerman

Gary Leonard Ackerman ( born November 19, 1942 in New York City ) is an American politician of the Democratic Party and was from 1983 to 2013 a member of the House of Representatives of the United States for the state of New York.

Biography

Gary Leonard Ackerman was born the son of Max and Eva Ackerman in New York City. He grew up in Flushing, a neighborhood of New York's Queens Borough on. After leaving school at the Brooklyn Technical High School, he studied at Queens College ( completion 1965). He was then working as a teacher for the subjects of social studies, mathematics and journalism at a junior high school in Queens. Ackerman wanted to take a 1969 unpaid leave due to the birth of his daughter, it denied him the school administration, however. He sued the school administration and then got in front of court. In 1970 he founded the Queens Tribune, a free weekly newspaper. He has served as editor and publisher until his election to the Senate from New York.

The New York Senate he was a member from 1979 until his election to the U.S. House of Representatives. In a by-election, he was elected in 1983 as the successor to Benjamin S. Rosenthal. He represented the fifth New York congressional district, which parts of Queens, Long Iceland and the Nassau County covers. He defended his seat in fourteen subsequent elections. In the House of Representatives Ackerman was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Financial Services. Reasons of age, he decided not to stand again at the 2012 election and retired on January 3, 2013 the Office.

Ackerman is Jewish. He lives in Roslyn Heights, Nassau County and is married to Rita Gale Tewel. The couple has two sons and a daughter.