Are we all kings of the hill at the top of the heap?

It’s a classic, a song that all New Yorkers know and love, it’s Fred Ebb’s, “New York, New York.” Written by Ebbs in 1977 and famously performed by Frank Sinatra in 1979, this song can be seen as an attribute to the historic redevelopment of New York City that heavily took place from the 40s to the 60s and onwards. Robert Moses, the “father” of this redevelopment had a multitude of goals when it came to legislation and reform in NYC, as indicated by the readings. While some of them included recapturing the middle class through privatization of previously public land development, or making NYC a center for higher education through university land allotment, one of the main focuses was redefining NYC’s stature by making it a national and international center of excellence. While the latter was achieved through the construction of Lincoln Center and the United Nations, it was also a result of the goals previously mentioned as more housing and young creatives in university brought the public back into New York City, making it a desirable destination for innovation and success. To me, this is exactly what “New York, New York” is about. It proves that only 10 or more years after major redevelopment, the widespread public already began to note a difference in the creative state and community of NYC. At this point, New York City was redefined, or rather reinstated, as a location to flock to, where one could “make it” as “king of the hill.” This perception of NYC as a powerhouse is still relevant today, as many companies hold their headquarters here, and as a large number of people dream of coming to NYC to fulfill their career goals.

Although Robert Moses is largely responsible for this perception of NYC, I find it interesting that all four of the readings restated this idea that Moses was not this omnipotent presence in city legislation. He, in fact, lacked control in many areas, most famously in his defeat of the arterial highway that he planned to run through Washington Square Park. Although his unsuccessfulness was framed as a defeat in Fishman’s “Revolt of the Urbs: Robert Moses and His Critics,” to me, the public protests prove the strength of the community as they banded together to assert a common goal. In fact, the community was right with their assertion as the absence of a highway running straight through the city did not further congest traffic. In addition to Moses’s lack of control in legislation due to public protest and the federal government, he also manipulated anti-discrimination laws so that private companies would not have to change the way they treated their black tenants. One example of this injustice is the way in which they relocated black tenants into specific neighborhoods, further segregating the city. Moses was from perfect in the way that he handled certain areas of city legislation.

With this in mind, in what ways did Moses really effect this perception of New York City as a hot spot? Does his submission to the Jim Crow laws and discriminatory tendencies undermine this perception? Did all racial groups have the perception of New York City that Frank Sinatra sings about at this time? What about now? Is NYC living up to this perception and if not, how can we do better?