Perhaps 2 years ago, I was riding in the car with a friend of my father’s along 3rd avenue in Brooklyn — that avenue which runs below the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (the BQE to most). I don’t remember the day clearly; it’s too similar to most traffic filled days. But one thing has stuck in my mind: my father’s friend’s description of how Robert Moses systematically cleared neighborhoods and displaced scores of people to build the BQE. Till now, I only thought of this act’s inhumanity, not it’s impact on urban logistics.
Till now, I didn’t realize the significance of the only other fact I remember about that day: we drove under the BQE, not on it. There was too much traffic to do that.
I don’t think Robert Moses intended to build the BQE so that people could drive under it. I don’t think he intended to build one of the most elaborate systems of roads in history just so that I would take the train to school for 3 hours a day for my first year of college. I don’t think he planned to build so many parks and beaches with the intention that it would be so time consuming and costly to get to them.
By no means, were the creations of Robert Moses an asset to New York City. I know from personal experience. After encountering his mess firsthand, I left Brooklyn for Manhattan, so I could be closer to school. But can I complain? At least I was able to leave of my own volition. At least my home wasn’t destroyed to make way for the BQE or some other Moses expressway.
At least I have a home.
Peter Fields
