Christopher Marte was born and raised on the Lower East Side, where his father owned a bodega and his mother worked in a garment factory before becoming a home attendant. When he wasn’t stacking cans, he attended local public schools and after-school programs. Eventually, his father’s store had to close down because of rent hikes, and Christopher started to see the community he loved get torn apart by luxury development and corrupt politicians.

Christopher co-founded two community gardens in NYCHA and volunteered at the Bowery Mission in order to give back to the community that raised him.

Professionally, Christopher started his career managing IBM’s retirement funds while paying off his student loans. As he continued to work in finance, he served on the Young Professionals Board of Defy Ventures — where he guided formerly incarcerated people through the process of starting their own small businesses.

Afterwards, Christopher worked as a legal researcher at an immigration law firm, before deciding to run for City Council in 2017. Although Christopher fell short by 200 votes, he was able to unite people all across District 1; neighbors, who lived only a quarter mile away from each other but never had a reason to work together before, became closer connected.

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