My name is Jonathan Marty. I’m a rising Junior at the NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study where I’m pursuing a concentration in Urban Studies. Currently I’m a Gallatin Global Fellow in Urban Practice, working in Humboldt Park, Chicago with the Puerto Rican Cultural Center.
Ever since I was young, I’ve been enamored by cities. Growing up mere minutes away from the Bronx / Westchester border, I spent nearly all of my free time in high school riding the subway and exploring the five boroughs of New York. After moving to Manhattan for college, I spent a summer reading Robert Caro’s The Power Broker and Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities and decided that I wanted to pursue a life of urbanism — studying cities, the way they work, and the people within them.
My specific interests range from housing rights and gentrification to the politics of public transit and other civic amenities. I am also interested in the processes of architectural design and urban planning, and how the two shape the urban environment in distinctive manners.
