“It is impossible to say that New York would have been a better city if Robert Moses had never lived. It is possible to say only that it would have been a different city.” -Robert Caro
There is no doubt that Robert Moses had a devastating impact on a large portion of the city. He displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and segregated the city by wealth; his work led to extreme transportation congestion and cost the city billions of dollars. The negative impact that took root in his projects can still be traced today.
However, there is also no doubt that his work made New York a metropolitan central of the world. He created the very physical landscape that shapes the city; he placed its parks, highways and cultural centers. He was responsible for Lincoln Center and Shea Stadium. His roads and bridges interconnected the city, and connected it to a much broader section of New York State. All of his projects helped make the city the economic and cultural powerhouse that it is, and these projects will long outlast the man who created them. Though Moses was a very flawed person, his work, for better or worse, has made the city a better place.
Sarah Dunford
