Robert Moses has come to be known as a figure that single-handedly made New York City what it is today-physically speaking at least. During his time in power, his contributions were astounding not only in the number of public works completed, but also in the speed of their execution, in their exceptional quality, and in their wide range (beaches, pools, expressways, parks, etc.). As a city planner, he was unmatched and will likely always be. However, this doesn’t exempt him from having enemies, and during his reign, he had a fair few.
As illustrated in the photo, Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs were viewed on opposite sides of the spectrum. This was most notably seen in the battle over Washington Square. The dispute began when Moses announced that he wanted to build a four-way lane highway that would cut straight through the park. This was met with great opposition but Moses was greatly taken aback when the majority of opposition came not just from local protestors, but from the mothers of both the neighborhood children as well as the “mother” of all citizen activist groups-Shirley Hayes. While it was Hayes that organized and fought against Moses, it is Jacobs that is remembered as one of the greatest critics of the actions that he took. While the photo doesn’t specify Washington Square Park, it highlights some of the changes he had wanted to make in the city. It depicts Moses as someone that saw New York as “inefficient” and in need of “highways”, which alludes to the highway he tried to build through Washington Square Park. He saw the current state of the city at the time as being inefficient to accommodate all the people. His most notable line was that, “cities are created by and for traffic”, whereas Jacobs countered with cities being created, “by and for neighborhoods”. It is why she is seen opposite Moses in this picture. She is personifying the people that refused to allow Moses to destroy the essence of their city, the essence of what makes their neighborhood in a sense, New York .
Jacobs had been said to be the one to rediscover the values of a city being built on instead of destroyed. In terms of Greenwich Village, she analyzed how every little aspect of it came together to create something very unique. From the stores on the sidewalks, to the mixture of workplaces, residential areas, and narrow roads- there was what Jane Jacobs coined as a “close-grained diversity” that she believed was the essence of urbanism.
Questions:
- Given that Robert Moses did indeed make great changes in New York City, should he have been allowed to create his highway through Washington Square Park? Or more generally, to have made changes where he saw fit?
- Do you think Greenwich Village would be as we now know it had Washington Square Park been altered? Or would the highway have impacted the neighborly feel of the area?
- Do you agree with Jane Jacob’s view of the essence of urbanism?
