As I made my way through the first reading, I found myself shocked for two reasons: 1) the impressiveness of Robert Moses and his transformation of New York City in a matter of decades is undeniable, and 2) how long will it take for the author to portray Robert Moses as there terrible man he was? Of course, the latter followed soon afterwards.

This is not the first time I’ve heard about Robert Moses. I attended a High School which focused on American Studies and it wasn’t odd to hear students debate over Robert Moses. My school also had the particularity of being located in the Bronx, where Robert Moses had quite a legacy and impact. Then, in my first IDC course at Baruch, my class watched a Ken Burns documentary on New York City, which of course mentioned Robert Moses.

While I thought I had a sturdy background for this reading, I soon realized that there were major components I was missing. As far as I was aware, the main criticisms of Robert Moses were that he was racist and destroyed neighborhoods. The two prime examples that I remember were that he 1) intentionally built low bridges over the roads leading to Jones Beach so that buses could not fit under – buses that would have brought poor, and generally black people – and that he 2) carved right through major sections of the Bronx to make room for the Cross Bronx Expressway. The latter had detrimental effects on the Bronx. Neighborhoods disintegrated as a result, and at one point, it made sense for building owners to burn down their buildings and collect insurance money rather that maintaining and renting out apartments in their now rundown neighborhood. This is where we get “The Bronx is Burning.” Arguably, Robert Moses had quite a large hand in the deterioration of the Bronx.

What was shocking to me in this reading, was hearing about the “lie” that was Robert Moses. I had always thought of him as a racist, power-hungry, construction-crazy man, but I also respected him in regards to what he was able to accomplish in his lifetime for the city. He simply got things done – quickly and efficiently. However, that turned out to be a lie. The Robert Moses that I knew wouldn’t have paid 40 million dollars more in interest than he had to for one bridge. The Robert Moses that I knew did not make use of covert loans to finance the secret waste behind his projects. Robert Moses certainly had, and still has, a tremendous impact on New York City, and I think for the better. But at what cost? Was it worth it? It’s a question I have trouble answering.