Contrasting Views on Robert Moses, and His Impact on Staten Island

As we look around our city, and take in its grand structures and majesty, we can accredit much of it to Robert Moses, a 20^th century “building maestro” who led expansions across all 5 boroughs, making a huge impact on its development. Although he has done a lot to build up our city, he’s also been known to be a pretty controversial figure. He is referred to as “the greatest builder in American history” but also as an “evil genius”. In ‘Robert Moses and the Rise of New York: The Power Broker in Perspective’ Kenneth T. Jackson goes on to defend Moses from many of the negative claims made by Robert A. Caro. He mentions that many of Moses’ accomplishments weren’t positively received at first, since they were seemingly too sacrificial of other things, until the benefits of his plans were reaped. Many people also blame him for things that weren’t his fault, but at the same time he is responsible for many harsh things, such as efforts to clear slums to make luxury apartments and medical and cultural centers, devastating lower income families (Jackson 69). As a Staten Islander, born and raised, I was curious as to how his work affected Staten Island, positively or negatively, how people received his ideas during his time and how it has been looked at in retrospect.

I found an article ‘2010 Census: How NYC ‘master builder’ Robert Moses made Staten Island what it is today’ from 2011 by Michael Dominowski on the Staten Island Advance (one of our local newspapers) website, discussing Robert Moses’ influence on the borough. According to one of the earlier sections of the article, “Moses had been wreaking change across greater New York City for decades”. Dwellers of the island had a pretty bad view of Moses, and there were even plans of Moses’ stopped by great opposition and help from the mayor. Moses wanted to do many things on the Island, from making the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, to paving one of our parks. There would also be a huge wave of activity and commerce into the Island, now that it wouldn’t be completely separated from the rest of New York City. “An unprecedented boom was building momentum and Moses knew neither Staten Island nor City Hall was ready for it” (Dominoswki).

This article relates to the readings we’ve had about Moses, because they vary in opinion on Moses’ intentions and whether his creations were worth it or not, as well as how he went about them. Although Jackson had much to say to defend Moses, this article from the Advance shows many of the fierce tendencies that Moses had, from contested demolishment of forests, and his comments on how his work would affect the Island.  Even though Moses was very successful in propelling New York City to new heights, he was also responsible for upsetting thousands of people, be it the question of his racism, lack of honesty and how many of his decisions to build negatively impacted thousands of people, with no acknowledgement of public opinion. Based on the Advance article, his ruthlessness and disdain for public input displayed that he didn’t want to necessarily improve the Island for its inhabitants, but rather for his own sense of achievement and intensions. He seemingly didn’t care that Staten Island may not have been able to handle his effects, and he even said things against the people of the island in public, even in newspapers.

At the same time, based on the defense made by Jackson, Moses wasn’t all that bad and was just very ambitious in his work. It can easily be argued that the effects Moses had on the Island were positive, and it is very interesting to see how people could have such varying views on the same man, and how it applies to my hometown. I know that I myself am very thankful that we have the bridge, and that we’re not as isolated as we would’ve been if it wasn’t there. Attached below, is a picture of the Advance from 1954, headlining Moses’ plans for the Verrazano Bridge as well as plans to pave Great Kills Park, moves that can be taken as positive or negative, when looking at its effects on the Island.

Source of article: How Robert Moses made Staten Island what it is today

Source of image: Disney, Moses and the plight of America’s cities