Councilmember Alan Gerson was apparently the object of a prank phone call by the Howard Stern radio show following the shooting of Councilmember James Davis in the City Council on July 23. As Gerson was talking to Channel 4 TV news about the incident and Davis, who was a friend, someone from the Stern show, apparently, called FOX TV news and claimed he was Councilmember “Alan Garshon.”
The next morning the phony sound bite was played on the radio on Howard Stern’s show. “I think it was in extremely poor taste,” said Gerson, “making fun of the whole situation. Somebody pretended they were me and he used that as a way of getting on TV. At first what they said made sense, then it got outlandish.”
The impersonator talked about spending time with Davis in the Hamptons.
Gerson said the giveaway was when the phony politician used “some password” — “Bababooey” — a sound clip of Stern producer Gary Dell’Abate’s nickname frequently played on the show.
“Normally I enjoy a good spoof,” said Gerson, “but there is a time and place. And under the circumstances — I just lost a friend — it was not the time and place.”
