# Christopher Marte

Christopher Marte (born April 26, 1989) is an American politician who is a member of the New York City Council for the 1st district, elected in November 2021. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
His district includes all or parts of Battery Park City, Chinatown, Civic Center, East Village, Ellis Island, Financial District, Governors Island, Greenwich Village, Liberty Island, Little Italy, Lower East Side, NoHo, Nolita, SoHo, Tribeca, and the West Village.
During his tenure on the New York City Council, he has opposed various efforts to increase housing supply in New York City, as well as been one of few local New York City politicians to oppose congestion pricing in the most polluted and congested parts of Manhattan.

## Early life and education

Marte was born and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He attended St. Agnes Boys High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international economics and politics from LIU Global.

## Career

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.

## 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. Marte won 72.1% of the vote in the general election.
In 2023, Marte voted against a proposal to allow outdoor dining structures created during the COVID-19 pandemic to become permanent. Marte argued that outdoor dining benefitted gentrifiers who like to party long into the night while harming long-term residents.
Marte was one of few local New York City politicians to oppose congestion pricing in the most polluted and congested parts of Manhattan.

### Housing

During his campaign for the City Council, Marte criticized incumbent council member Chin for voting to upzone NoHo and SoHo to permit 3,500 additional apartments, including 900 affordable housing units.
In 2022, Marte filed a lawsuit to prevent the construction of four tower developments in Downtown Manhattan on the basis that dense housing was "environmental racism" and violated people's right "to clean air and water, and a healthful environment."
In December 2024, Marte voted against City of Yes, legislation to rezone parts of New York City to allow for the conversion and construction of 80,000 new housing units across the city over a 15-year period. Marte said the increase in housing supply only benefitted real estate developers.

## Election history

2021 New York City Council election, District 1 Democratic primary :
| Party | Candidate | Maximum round | Maximum votes | Share in maximum round | Maximum votes First round votesTransfer votes |
| Democratic | Christopher Marte | 8 | 10,785 | 60.5% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Jenny Low | 8 | 7,054 | 39.5% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Gigi Li | 6 | 4,662 | 23.9% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Maud Maron | 5 | 2,495 | 12.1% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Susan Lee | 4 | 2,020 | 9.6% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Sean Hayes | 3 | 928 | 4.3% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Tiffany Johnson-Winbush | 3 | 809 | 3.7% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Susan Damplo | 2 | 344 | 1.6% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Denny Salas | 2 | 292 | 1.3% | ​​ |
2021 New York City Council election, District 1 general election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Christopher Marte | 16,733 | 72.1 |
| | Independent NY | Maud Maron | 3,265 | 14.0 |
| | Republican | Jacqueline Toboroff | 3,166 | 13.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 23,212 | 100 |