Robert Moses was a master builder responsible for many of the major public works in New York and his philosophies shaped the urban landscape of the 20th century.
Moses, born in 1888, first rose to power through his association with New York Governor Alfred E. Smith. At one point he held 12 city and state government posts at the same time, including Secretary of State of New York, parks commissioner of New York City, and chairman of the New York State Powers Commission.
Bridges, Highways, Parks and Playgrounds
According to his obituary in the New York Times, Mr. Moses was responsible for the growth of New York State parkland to 2,567,256 acres. He built 658 city playgrounds, 416 miles of parkways and 13 bridges. His achievements are visible in all corners of the city and its suburbs -- bridges such as Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the Triborough Bridge and the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge; highways including the West Side Highway, the Belt Parkway, The Grand Central Parkway and most of the major parkways on Long Island; and landmarks ranging from the rebuilt Central Park Zoo to Lincoln Center to Shea Stadium.
The Power Broker
But his legacy remains controversial, especially after the publication of the exhaustive biography of him by Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, in 1974. The book details not only his early successes with projects such as Jones Beach, but also how his approach to urban planning had classist -- some believe racist -- undertones, and how his immense power and influence eventually made him powerful enemies. In addition to the many parks and playgrounds, Moses was also responsible for ploughing under established neighborhoods to build roads and moving poor people from their homes into public housing projects. His detractors also accuse him of steering the prime developments to predominantly white neighborhoods and avoiding building in historically black neighborhoods like Harlem. In Caro’s book, people who worked with Moses say he deliberately built the overpasses on his Long Island parkways too low for buses to fit under to prevent lower-income urban people visiting the beaches and parks.
Black Marks on His Reputation
The turning point for Moses was in the 1960s, when he was blamed by many for the destruction of Penn Station and accused by people such as author and activist Jane Jacobs of destroying the heart of the city by running superhighways through it. Another black mark was the 1964 New York World’s Fair, which he helped bring to being amid major cost overruns and unrealistic attendance expectations. Some even blame Moses for the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn, because he thwarted the plans of Dodger’s owner Walter O’Malley to build a new stadium to replace aging Ebbets Field.
Moses' Legacy Lives On
But despite the controversies, Moses’ legacy -- and name -- lives on in every part of New York State from the Robert Moses State Parkway in Niagara Falls to the Robert Moses Causeway on Long Island. For most current New Yorkers, it is impossible to imagine the city without his contributions. And for contemporary urban planners trying to get projects accomplished while facing political red tape and community objections, his ability to get huge works built in short periods of time seems, in retrospect, almost astonishing.
