Blog #1 (on Robert Moses)

Woo Seok Choi

Blog #1

20160216

Before reading Phillip Lopate’s “Rethinking Robert Moses,” I had no idea that Robert Moses was regarded in such bad light. My eighth grade history teacher, Ms. O’Sullivan, was actually a relative of Moses and always spoke of his great successes in transforming the city. I think this much is unarguable.

I generally agree with Lopate’s arguments in defense of Moses. I think people are too short-sighted and deluded by their apparent humanitarianism. One main criticism of Moses was his lack of consideration for displacing poor-income families. But I bet that most of the critics wouldn’t prefer having these ghettos in the first place. They’re just nitpicking in order to feel relevant in some bigger social issue. I think that the benefits of building new homes, parks, highways, and bridges outweigh the concerns of destroying these communities. This is an insensitive viewpoint. Although poor, these communities may have been culturally rich; does anyone deserve to lose his home? Being a poor immigrant myself, it would suck to see my family be kicked out from our community. But I’m also a utilitarian; I can’t blame Moses for what he did.

What I find more interesting than whether or not Moses’ projects were beneficial or not, is whether or not Moses was racist and how this could’ve influenced his project plans. Michael Powell, in his 2007 NYTimes article “A Tale of Two Cities”, mentions documented cases that suggest Moses integrated anti-black ideas into his projects. As quoted, “One is that Moses chilled the water at a swimming pool in East Harlem based on his belief that blacks disliked cold water. The other is that Moses built low bridges to keep buses — ostensibly carrying black passengers — away from Jones Beach.” Perhaps Moses didn’t care as much about public planning as he did about targeting black communities.

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As for the second article by Justin Davidson, “Can Andrew Cuomo Be a Less Toxic Robert Moses?”, I really have nothing much to say. I was somewhat confused as to what the author’s opinion of Cuomo was. Davidson writes that Cuomo’s plans are superficial and perhaps a waste of money. But then, the title of his article seems to suggest that Cuomo is doing a good job? I don’t know. It’s also hard for me to agree or disagree on whether Cuomo’s plans are really worth the money being invested into them. But I can certainly say that improving the subway system and providing free subway wifi are double-plus good in my books.