Deborah Marton has dedicated her career to the development of public space in New York City, with a specific focus on the integration of natural systems and the built environment. Deborah joined the New York Restoration Project (NYRP) in 2011, bringing her extensive experience moving complex municipal projects from conception to actionable conclusions.
Prior to
joining NYRP, she served as Executive Director of the Design Trust for
Public Space. Under her leadership the organization gained national visibility
and doubled in size. High-profile projects completed during Deborah's tenure at the Design Trust have made New York City’s parks and public right-of-ways more sustainable,
catalyzed the redesign of Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, strengthened Long Island
City’s art community, and improved the New York City taxi vehicle and system,
paving the way for the city’s new taxi, among many other projects and public
programs.
Previously, she was Program Manager of New York City Parks Natural Resources Group and later associated with the landscape architecture firm Field Operations, where she collaborated on creation of the winning submission for the Fresh Kills Master Plan, and later served as the first Project Manager for that project. Deborah received a Masters in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design and also holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
My Design Trust fellowship on Thresholds of Eibs Pond Park 2 convinced me of the value of public/private project teams. I was impressed and inspired by the Design Trust’s methodology– teaming design professionals with the city agents that have to actually implement the designs had two great results: The design quality was top-notch, but it was also totally doable within Parks’ requirements.