Martin was born in West New York, New Jersey, and moved with his family as a child to Brooklyn where he attended New Utrecht High School.
He enlisted in the United States Army in 1943, where he ultimately achieved the rank of second lieutenant, serving in counterintelligence and in the design of amphibious assault vehicles.
[1] After completing his military service, Martin worked as a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and as an editor for the Shell Oil Company.
He worked as a sales representative selling electronics and spent two years on Wall Street as an account executive at Shearson, Hammill & Co.[1] He started attending council meetings in his hometown of Cresskill, New Jersey, and was chosen for a seat on the borough's planning board in addition to being chosen to serve on the Bergen County Planning Board.
Martin also supported legislation to protect the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve and sponsored a bill to increase the amount of state loans offered to students in graduate school.