We are posed with the question of Robert Moses’ legacy: master builder or evil genius. But, I’d like to pose an additional one: “Does New York need a new Robert Moses?”
It is undeniable that Robert Moses has had an immense amount of influence on New York’s, particularly New York City’s, physical layout. He is often referred to as the “Master Builder” for his exceptional public works projects throughout his years in power. His accomplishments range from parks, beaches, and swimming pools, to bridges, parkways, and expressways. His projects benefited thousands of people while at the same time negatively affecting thousands of others as well as destroying neighborhoods (Ballon and Jackson 2007).
However, his influence is still felt today, in a positive aspect. His infrastructures and facilities are still largely intact and operating, contributing to the need and desire of public space as well as democratization in that aspect. However, the city government’s interest in public projects in the past couple of decades has declined and it is crucial to consider whether we are in need of a new master builder (Ballon and Jackson 2007: 83).
Marc J. Dunkelman explores this idea in his article “Does New York need another Robert Moses?”: “Rather than proactively building for the future, New York has contented itself with ‘building back’ in response to crises. In the absence of Moses’ cudgel, the pipeline of major projects has slowed to a trickle. To this day, with the possible exception of the forthcoming water tunnel for Brooklyn and Queens, no major project has reached completion since the Verrazano Bridge opened in 1964. And it’s not because New York has been bereft of leaders with grand visions. In fact, the city’s failure to keep up with the demands of a growing population is a direct result of the well-meaning protections erected to preclude the rise of another Moses.”
Moses abused his power and people are wary of having another Robert Moses controlling some of the city’s largest decisions. But how else can New York City fix all of its problems and move forward another step towards modernity if someone doesn’t take action?
So many safeguards are now put in place to ensure that no one single person wields as much power as Robert Moses did. After all, we live in a democratic rather than authoritarian government, right? But these precautions have acted as barriers and obstacles to the point that even projects that have almost universal support and approval get bulldozed because of the slightest opposition. Is this system of safeguards and protections against tyranny benefiting New York City or contributing to its downfall? (Dunkelman 2016).
Dunkelman concludes by claiming, “A system that makes progress possible again will get some projects wrong. But the status quo—a system in which nothing gets done absent a crisis—imperils too much of what New York does well.” Ideally, the best system would be one that benefits all, if possible. It would be proactive but not over productive. It would use the power it has but not abuse it.
There is no doubt that Robert Moses has made enormous improvements to the city which benefited thousands of people. Similarly, there is no doubt that he abused his power and negatively impacted thousands of other peoples lives. His contradictory legacy makes it difficult to decide whether he should be praised or scorned. Which in turn makes it difficult to decide whether New York City needs another master builder in its future. But these two dilemmas go hand in hand. Is it best to continue with the democratic yet unproductive system we currently have in place or would it be more beneficial to go back to the prime time of Robert Moses where there was corruption but implementation of numerous public projects that benefited all in the long run? It is a difficult question to answer, but one that needs to be discussed and debated as the future of the most marvelous city in the world rests in our hands.
By: Izabela Konopko
Works Cited:
Ballon H and Jackson K (2007) Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York. New York: W.W. Norton
Dunkelman M (2016) “Does New York need another Robert Moses?” (Last accessed 25 February 2017)
I really appreciate how you were able to bring in another question to the argument about Robert Moses. I think that arguing/debating whether Robert Moses was an “Evil Genius” or “Master Builder” is important but truthfully it is in the past and unchangeable. However, discussing if New York needs a new Robert Moses is very present and something that is more or less in our hands, as New Yorkers.
Given the readings, we see that there is an obvious split in Robert Moses’ works. With his enormous projects he benefitted and, at the same time, hurt thousands of people. Like you said, his contradictory legacy makes it hard for us to tell if all in all he was successful and New York today can benefit from another Robert Moses. In my opinion, New York can use another Robert Moses, with a twist. Robert Moses didn’t care about people, he cared about things. That’s not what this city needs. This city needs someone with the passion and endurance that Robert Moses had for the physical space of New York City but also someone with the same amount of passion for the people of New York City. Robert Moses did great things for the infrastructure of the city but he did not take care of all aspects of it. He didn’t base his projects off of the impact it would have on ALL of the people involved. But the “new” Robert Moses can learn from his mistakes. I think that now, as we see the bigger picture and the actual impacts that Robert Moses left on the city we can see that New York can actually benefit from another Robert Moses, as long as they don’t repeat his mistakes from the past.