Robert Moses is a man that is known to have greatly impacted the physical features of the New York City we know today. The process of city building has changed drastically since his time, and therefore his influence on the building of NYC is unmatched. His contributions to the city varied tremendously. He had exceptional work completed in bridges, parks, expressways, swimming pools and many more.
In his power as Parks Commissioner, Moses took interest in fixing the issues with the Public Zoos of New York City. He addressed issues of the conditions of the animals and stressed that only healthy animals under humane circumstances are to be displayed. The care and environment of the zoo animals was changed drastically since the reopening of the central park zoo. In the image below, twelve thousand invited guests attended the reopening of the zoo in 1934, while approximately twenty five thousand were standing outside waiting to be admitted.
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Moses had this interest to fix the conditions of the zoo animals due to his friendship with the former Governor, Al Smith, who had a tremendous love for animals and saw that the conditions of the zoo animals were horrible and unsanitary. When Moses promised to fix this issue for him, he put together a design team to create a plan that took sixteen days to complete. It was put into work and finished within eight months of the plan and reopened in 1934. Moses wanted the zoo to be a place where children can enjoy and be interactive instead of just an “animal museum”.
This is an example of one of the remarkable projects Moses completely. Although it is not as big as the city building he was in charge of, it is one that shows his interest in animals and fixing the inhumane conditions they were living in at the zoo before he designed a new plan for it.
- Although Robert Moses had an interest in fixing the conditions of the zoo animals, was his intention to better his relationship with the Governor?
- Since Moses’ time, how much did the conditions of the animals change if there is a great deal of controversy on the issue of animals even being caged in zoos?
- Have the zoos in New York City remained child friendly like Moses’ had envisioned it to be?
