Category: Uncategorized (page 6 of 7)

There is no doubt that Robert Moses’s systemic urban development of New York City’s significantly enriched the city’s economic and social development, but Moses’s empire was built on the foundations of dishonesty and inflamed egotism. Early in the passage, it was easy to recognize Moses’s defining traits. His initial proposal for the development of a Minority Association told of this disdain for those who are different. His dishonesty about the directing of funds and his willingness to quit over such a minuscule detail shows his egotism. It was no doubt that these qualities are what helped Robert Moses ascent to power

“He had used the power of money to undermine the democratic processes of the largest city in the world, to plan and build parks, bridges, highways and housing projects on the basis of his whim alone.” More than a planner, Moses was a politician, he knew how to work the media and other politicians. Moses demanded for the seat to Park Development after Wagner’s swear in and fully hearted lied to the media about his plans. What can you say about a man who was even feared by the president of the time, Franklin Roosevelt? What stood out to me was his development of a secret police to patrol his areas and do his bidding. These methods are comparable to those uses by some of the most famous dictators in the world.

Once again, it is undeniable that Robert Moses has enhanced the structural integrity of New York City, but his character and the methods used cannot go unnoticed.

Madhav Bhatt

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

Robert Moses, by many accounts, was not a good man. He was manipulative, conniving, deceitful, and a terror to his enemies. However, it cannot be argued that Moses was not a great man. A titanic figure in the history of New York, he has arguably done more than any other single person to change New York City.  He used all of the powers to him to shape New York City to conform to his vision. The projects completed under Moses’ watch include highways, parks, bridges and housing across the city.

The arguably most influential of his projects would be the system of highways that would spread across the boroughs, connecting what had once been the distant outskirts with the hub of the city. With this connection, people could move out of the city to the newly established suburbs of Long Island while still remaining connected to the city for work. Because of this ease of connection, Robert Moses’ highways would be a leading cause of the “white flight” of the 1960s and 70s, and the wide spread decay that would come to define the city in the late 70s and early 80s as a result of it.  Those that left were predominately white and upper class, and the loss of a substantial part of the tax base would leave the city starved for money in the years before its near bankruptcy.

Despite this, Robert Moses did do some good for the city. Cultural landmarks such as Lincoln Center would not exist without Moses, and controversial as they are, his highways would become a template for the expansion of the highway system across the country.

Jon Baumann

“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

Caro puts it well when he claims that “it is only possible to say that [New York without Moses] would have been different.” After all he did to leave his mark on the very structures which make up and supply the city, we can’t know what the city would have looked like without Moses. Ultimately, he remade NYC in his image, changing it into the type of city he wished it to be. Though all his many actions affected everything around them, I will work from a single example, his reshaping of the way New Yorkers get around. Through extensive roadbuilding and seizure of funds which could have gone to the transit system, Moses set the city on the path to dependance on cars, rather then mass transit. Whether this is a good or bad decision is somewhat subjective, but the character of the city was undeniably altered by it. Admittedly, NYC was growing fast at the time, and it is possible that many of these changes would have been made eventually, and probably less effectively without Moses, but this assumption may be a product of the idea that these structures are necessary, simply because citizens are now used to them. This is even more true because of Moses’ national power, and his influence over all later urban development plans. Perhaps the idea of an affective train system allowing travel to long island and new jersey is hard to picture because New York and all subsequent US cities relied on the car. 

Robert Moses’ power stemmed from deceit and threats. In the beginning of the reading, a kerfuffle between Moses and the Yale swim team captain, Ed Richards, was described. Here, Moses wanted to raise money through deceit, by telling Og Reid that the money was going only to the swimming team and not to an association. Richards had protested this idea, to which Moses threatened to leave the team. Forty-five years later, when Moses realized he wouldn’t be sworn in as a Planning Commissioner under the new mayor, he marched into the mayor’s office and threatened to resign if he did not get his position as Planning Commissioner back. Here, a pattern was emerging. Since the mayor had given in, Moses acquired the power to spend money uncaringly and to step all over the public, evicting people carelessly to make room for his numerous projects. Although he had wanted to dedicate his life to public service, his intentions shifted to selfishness, corruption continued its grasp on his motivations, and he used blackmail and the media to get what he wanted.

Whether or not Robert Moses’ actions were an asset or an impairment to New York, and the rest of the United States, is a question that has no right answer. In some ways, he ruined people’s lives; he displaced the poor and is the cause of the ubiquitous congestion that exudes from New York City. Although people were nervous and afraid of taking advantage of his creations at first, it is obvious that as time passes, the population is further and further separated from Moses’ influence. His name will always be remembered, whether on signs or in textbooks, and I believe that his evils are forgivable. Not because he was right for amassing such an incredible amount of power and using it for personal, and often selfish, gains, but because ultimately, his changes to New York have allowed it to flourish as a city. Perhaps the people of New York have not flourished in the way that they may have without him, but his highways, parks, and buildings have truly established New York as the metropolitan city. Robert Moses did not care about the people, but about himself and the physical influence he could exert. But isn’t anyone in great power the same way? His accomplishments may not have been an asset for the citizens of New York, but they were for the city itself.

From this introduction, it seems as if Robert Moses gained his power by pretending he already had it. The retelling of Moses’s confrontation with the Yale swim team captain hinted at the stubbornness and egocentrism that characterized Moses later in his career. With the ruthlessness of an entitled aspiring politician, he used the claim that he was above politics to draw the favor of the masses. His dedication and talent for getting what he wanted done seems undoubtable after reading even only the introduction, and accomplishing these projects consistently and in whatever secretive manner he wanted to was a feat in itself. He accumulated money, demanded respect, and was surrounded by a sense of mystery, which all in turn created power. However, to kick start this cycle it takes more than brains, and that’s where unbending self confidence can catapult someone into a position like his, especially when paired with the ability to actually produce what they claim they can. Caro stated that Moses’s empire was built on a lie – which in a sense is true – but creating a system of that magnitude with yourself at the center is a difficult task. Perhaps the fact that Moses could build that from scratch demanded its own respect – respect for creating power out of nothing but a bluff.

The assessment that Mose’s only damaged New York would ignore any positive effects that his projects had on the city. It is true that the way Mose’s “reign” affected many poorer, non-white residents was detrimental to the standard of living in the city. As a result, these residents were displaced and marginalized, which further resulted in the development of more slums. Furthermore, the methods Mose used set a dangerous precedent for future political leaders in the future. The two-faced, organized corruption schemes could be, and were, implemented by others seeking political power and influence. His blackmail and defamation model, for example, were the same tactics made famous by Joseph McCarthy soon after. However, the contributions that streamlined development made to the city cannot be ignored either. In particular, the construction of Lincoln Center, modern highways, and the UN likely boosted the position of NYC as a cultural, national, and global center, bolstering a majestic image that may have helped fuel more tourism, and therefore business, to the city. Moreover, the development of parks, playgrounds, and beaches may have had a positive contribution, at least to the lives of those who could take advantage of them and the perception of NYC from nonresidents. Overall, it is unlikely that these positives, for the vast majority of the city’s residents, had an impact that was significant enough to outweigh the negatives. The merit of Mose’s building, it seems, is not seen from within as much as it likely is from without.