New York City in the early part of
the twentieth century was a thriving land consisting of booming industry,
advancement in the methods of transportation, and incredible feats of
structural engineering. The world had never seen taller buildings, such intricate
subway systems, or such a positive economy before. At the apex of the termed
“Roaring Twenties,” a man stepped on the scene that would forever change the
image of the city. This man was Robert Moses, from New Haven Connecticut, fresh
out of Columbia University. Moses’ greatest achievements include, but are not
limited to, the Triborough
Bridge, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, the Lincoln Center, Shea Stadium, and
Jones Beach State Park. Despite the fact that Robert Moses was a great engineer
and made many contributions to the state of New York, his ethics and motives
are rather questionable. In fact, many argue that Moses was the worst thing to
happen to New York, and many of these arguments are valid. Through his corrupt
mindset and his urge to satisfy nobody but himself, Robert Moses proves to have
forever stunted the growth of the already biggest and most prosperous city in
the world.
Before
one can make an assumption about whether or not Moses had a positive or
negative impact on New York legacy, the facts of the matter must first be
examined. Roberta Brandes Gratz’s informative work The Battle for Gotham: New
York in the Shadows of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs does a wonderful job
exposing this man for who he really was. Gratz starts on Moses with his
outrageous political motives in his plans for the construction of the
Cross-Bronx Expressway, which connects the George Washington Bridge to I-95. To
this date the Cross-Bronx Expressway has become the biggest traffic disaster in
the South Bronx. “In just one mile, 1,530 families (more than 60,000 people)
and businesses were dislocated and 159 buildings demolished” (Gratz 130). Some
might pose the explanation that the Expressway was an imperative project in New
York. This is true; it is indeed a necessary mode of automotive transportation.
However, there were plans for an alternate route for the Cross-Bronx Expressway
that were proposed to Moses. Gratz goes on to explain that even though the
alternate route would have been cheaper, quicker, and only nineteen families
would have been in its way, Moses still shot down the idea (130). As a
consequence, schools, churches, synagogues, and businesses were destroyed,
leaving people homeless and unemployed. Moses “did such a good job of selling
the public on the false notion that these strategies cleaned up “slums,”
cleared “blight,” and replaced “deteriorated” neighborhoods that most people
today are unaware of the true condition and quality of these communities and
the lives of the people in them” (Gratz 131). This is just one example exposing
Moses for the political monster that he was and how he had no regard for the thousands
of lives he destroyed. More examples of this ruthlessness he exerts in his work
come in the form of direct quotes from Moses himself.
“To make an
omelet, you have to break an egg.” (Gratz 122)
“If
the ends don’t justify the means, what does?” (Gratz 122)
These quotes are clear-cut evidence
that Robert Moses never looked at the bigger picture when working on his
projects. He never predicted that because of his roads that force people out of
their homes, the crime rate would rise to an all time high, or the unemployment
rate would rise and stay high for years to come.
Robert
Moses was a part of automotive projects that were on a grand scale; however, he
was only for making automotive advances. “Moses was a zealot who built a
city for automobiles and those who could afford automobiles. And therein lies
Moses' greatest flaw. He cared not a whit for the working stiffs, who didn't
need or couldn't afford an automobile” (Dim). This claim is supported through
the facts surrounding the construction of Jones Beach. Moses was a huge fan of
Long Island and its parks. He loved them so much that he took money from the
funds for the upstate New York parks in order to finance the Long Island Parks
(Gratz 125). Moses designed the Southern State Parkway so that the overpasses
were not tall enough for busses to pass under, and thus preventing anyone
without a car from driving to the beach. Many claim that the reason for the
overpasses being so low is because Moses didn’t want African-Americans on the
beach. Even though it is common knowledge that he was a racist, as were most
rich white men of the early twentieth century, it is proven that he was more hateful
towards poor people and mass transit than he was African-Americans. “Moses did
try to place swimming pools and park facilities within reach of black families
and accessible by convenient public transportation. He did not build bridges
too low to accommodate buses so that black families would stay away from Jones
Beach, nor did he control the water temperature [in the pools] so as to
discourage black patronage” (Ballon 70). The key phrase in this quote from
Hilary Ballon’s study on Moses is the word “convenient public transportation.”
Moses simply had a problem with mass-transit on a large, inconvenient scale.
Robert
Moses once stated, “Cities are made by and for traffic” (Gratz 122). This
is a clear explanation as to why Moses designed the city only for cars and
nothing more. It was an ignorant move on his part. He would regret the way he
designed his mess of a highway system if he were alive to sit on the
Cross-Bronx Expressway on a Monday afternoon today.
“Moses
knew that making further connections between Manhattan Island and the other
boroughs would spur economic growth. His goal was to knit the city together; it
was how he did it that was perverse” (Dim). Robert Moses was well aware of the
influence he had on decisions that got made politically, and he took advantage
of it. He is the closest thing to a dictator New York has seen in its history.
He was so powerful that he was able to gain direct support of a future
president of the United States. Mike Wallace, a historian and director of the
Gotham Center for New York City History, stated, “Robert Moses’ legacy is
highly overrated. If he hadn’t had FDR priming the pump with money, little that
he did would have gotten done. And while Moses was pouring cement for highways,
plenty of people elsewhere were building public buildings and other essential
projects” (Gratz 121). Wallace explains that the city of New York did not
require the work of Robert Moses in order to get by. In fact, the city could
have expanded even more if it wasn’t for Moses. “It boggles the mind to
consider how much of that functioning city was in the way of the 130 miles that
went through New York City and then to imagine the damage that rippled out from
each roadway’s path like stones tossed into the water” (Gratz 125). A project
that may have succeeded if it wasn’t for Moses’ radical involvement in
government spending on his inconvenient road system was the Oyster Bay-Rye
Bridge. In 1966 there were plans for a six-mile bridge that extended the
Seaford Oyster Bay Expressway over the Long Island Sound and into Westchester
County. This project would have alleviated so much of the traffic from Long
Island through the city, but the plan was shot down because the traffic at the
time wasn’t sufficient enough to the point where a bridge was necessary. Surely
enough, as projected, about five or six years later, the traffic worsened as
the population of Long Island grew more dense and eventually developed into the
madness we see today on the Long Island Expressway, Northern and Southern State
Parkways, and the Belt Parkway.
Robert
Moses abused the power he was given to the fullest extent, a tyrant basically.
“With all the leaders under whom he served, Moses was famous for threatening to
resign his position if he did not get his way” (Gratz 132). Something is wrong
with the big picture. The mayors he served under would let him get whatever it
was that he wanted, whether it be a specific design, route, or budget, it was
his. However letting Moses get his way would mean for thousands to be left on
the streets or without a job. Finally, Mayor Nelson A. Rockefeller stood up to
Moses and asked him to resign as chairman of the State Council of Parks. Moses,
in hopes of scaring Rockefeller, resigned from both state park and State Power
Commission. There were no consequences of Moses’ action (Gratz 133). This just
goes to further prove the fact that New York could have not only survived, but
also thrived without the help of Robert Moses.
Sources:
Ballon, Hilary
Robert Moses and the modern
city : the transformation of New York / edited by Hilary Ballon and Kenneth T.
Jackson. - 1st ed. - New York : W. W. Norton & Co., c2007
Dim, J.. "Did
Robert Moses Ruin New York City? " Barron's
19 Mar. 2012: ABI/INFORM Global, ProQuest. Web. 1
May. 2012.
Gratz, Roberta Brandes.
The battle for Gotham : New
York in the shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs / Roberta Brandes Gratz. -
New York : Nation Books, c2010.
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