Christopher Marte (born April 26, 1989)[citation needed] is an American politician who is a member of the New York City Council for the 1st district, elected in November 2021.[1][2] He is a member of the Democratic Party.[3]
After graduating from college, Marte worked in finance for IBM. He then joined Arena, a Democratic-affiliated political action committee that trains candidates and campaign staffers. He later co-founded Neighbors United Below Canal, a non-profit organization.[6]
New York City Council
Marte ran for City Council in 2017, losing narrowly to incumbent Margaret Chin. He ran again in the 2021 Council elections, which were the first New York City elections to use ranked-choice voting. In the Democratic primary, Marte won 34.9% of the votes in the first round of voting and 60.5% of the votes in the final round.[7] Marte won 72.1% of the vote in the general election.
Marte's campaign was bolstered by community organizing against Chin's ties to real-estate developers, as well as by name recognition he had gained while attempting to primary Chin in the previous council election.[8] Marte's campaign was also unique in redefining the common ties that the different parts of District 1 have, in the Lower East Side, TriBeCa, Chinatown, and SoHo.
In 2022, Marte filed a lawsuit to prevent the construction of four tower developments in Downtown Manhattan on the basis that the luxury housing construction was "environmental racism" and violated people's right "to clean air and water, and a healthful environment."[9][10]
