As illustrated in “The Power Broker” by Robert Caro, Moses was a builder who created a countless number of bridges, roads, and parks in New York. These include the Triborough Bridge, Long Island Expressway, Grand Central Parkway, Fire Island, and more. With these creations, however, there was a great price to pay. Moses had to tear down factories, stores, and the homes of half a million people for these developments. In an article called “Eminent Dominion,” Paul Goldberger discusses how Moses was a combination of both good and evil rather than a completely villainous figure with his actions. A complex question comes into play with Moses’s legacy of both turmoil and successes as Goldberger criticizes how it takes a very long time today for New York to complete any sort of project. In contrast to how Moses had extended Riverside Park within three years, a “project [today] can be held up for years by public hearings and reviews by community boards…and planning commissions.” In other words, by allowing more and more citizens to participate in these project plans, big developments have slowed down in New York. Thus, should New York ever use Moses’s methods of building again in order to quickly complete projects? Should we lessen citizen involvement?
Although it might be true that community councils slow down projects, Moses’s methods of building are not something we should use for New York City in its current state. After all, his actions were needed in the context of his time. In the 1920’s, New York (as well as the rest of the United States) was suffering from the Great Depression. New York was filled with corruption from robber barons, garbage, and “Hoovervilles” (refuges for the homeless). Alongside the Great Depression, New York City was also unable to meet the needs of its growing population. For example, in 1918, the city had 125,101 cars. By 1932, that number grew to 790,173. Due to how Tammany Hall controlled the city’s money and put almost all of it into “salaries,” there was barely any money for construction. Traffic was horrendous as cars could not get through narrow roads meant for horse carriages. It is undeniable that the city and its citizens needed an immediate solution, which ended up being Moses’s plans. Operating through a combination of public authorities known as “Triborough,” Moses was able to finance and build his planned bridges, roads, and parks. The fast pace of this construction and the heightened power of public authorities, however, was due to the fact that Moses kept Triborough’s records a secret and lied to the public that taxpayers would pay nothing for these projects. In reality, public authorities took loans from the state that would never be paid back. A vast majority of the public blindly supported Moses both politically and economically with this lie and allowed him to bulldoze a countless number of homes.
Even though it may have been ethically wrong for Moses to lie to the public and forcefully evict poorer populations, his actions allowed New York to transform out of its completely devastated state from the Great Depression and its growing population. Automobiles were able to travel across New York, and many “Hoovervilles” (or parks that were refuges for the homeless) were turned into new playgrounds and parks for children. The lack of citizen involvement in Moses’s actions allowed for quick changes in New York, which are still visible today. This sort of power was needed at the time for change, but if we look at New York today, the circumstances are completely different. New York itself is not in shambles as it was in the 1920’s, nor is there a financial crisis such as the Great Depression. Even though community councils and boards slow down projects today, they create a balance between public authorities and the citizens themselves as their voices are heard in important urban plans. Hence, neighborhoods today are not immediately destroyed like they were during the era of Robert Moses. One person cannot bulldoze areas on his or her own whim. Moses’s methods for building were thus needed in order to quickly pick up the city from its turmoil, and were needed in the context of that time. This system with a lack of citizen involvement should not be used until the circumstances call for it.
Works Cited
Caro, Robert A. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. New York: Knopf, 1974. 5-21, 323-346. Print.
Goldberg, Paul. “Eminent Dominion.” The New Yorker. Condé Nast, 5 Feb. 2007. Web. 17 Feb. 2015.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/02/05/eminent-dominion
Devin, I love your blog post and your use of “Eminent Dominion.” I agree that Robert Moses’s methods helped the city, and that Robert Caro focuses too much on the downsides to Moses’s projects. You make a great point when you say that Robert Moses may have a gone too far in his building plans, but at least he made something happen in New York City. At the time, New York had a lot of changes coming on that they were not prepared for. In just fourteen years, there were over six-hundred percent more automobiles, but not nearly enough parking, streets or highways to handle them. “Hoovervilles” and the flood of immigrants also warranted quick changes. Moses was able to make changes fast. As you said, he was able to to extend Riverside park in just three years. Now, it would be impossible to finish any project in three years. Paul Goldberger brings up Ground Zero, a very popular project considering the tragic events of 9/11, yet it still took several years for the One World Trade Center to be built. Robert Moses may not have been ethical in his methods, but at least he made progress happen quickly.
You said in your blog that New York was in shambles, so what he did was necessary and ended up being helpful. In the 1920s there was the Great Depression as well as other problems that needed to be fixed quickly. You then said that times have changed and we do not have any crises that need to be fixed quickly, and so we should not use his methods today.
However, I disagree with you on that. We have our own set of problems that need to be fixed quickly. There are many rundown neighborhoods, roads, and bridges that need to be fixed or replaced. The Minnesota’s I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapsed in 2007, and many engineers fear the same will happen to the Tappan Zee bridge in New York if it is not replaced soon. There are many projects that should be built in New York City, but it takes a ridiculous amount of time for them to be approved. Furthermore, technology is increasing at a far faster rate then the 1920s. It was very important for Moses to change the city to adapt to the introduction of just cars. Now, we have several new technologies, but we do not have laws to deal with them. We have self driving cars and drones that need to be addressed. In computer science, there is an observation called “Moore’s Law” that shows that number of transistors we can fit in an integrated circuit doubles every two years. This means that our technology will continue to increase at a fast pace. If drones become our primary mode of delivery, how will New York be able to respond quickly enough? If it took us several years to plan out Ground Zero, New York might not be able to respond quickly enough.
I still agree with you that we should not allow someone the freedom to bulldoze any area on a whim, but our current system might not be sufficient in the coming years. We do not have the same problems had in the 1920’s, but we still do have many problems that need to be addressed quickly.