If I’m being quite honest, I had a hard time figuring out the stance I wanted to take with this blog post. Robert Moses was indeed a master builder, having created some of the most well-known infrastructures in New York City today. However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that he had a hidden agenda that was only slightly alluded to, in the second reading, making him seem more like an evil genius. So, I researched and read other sources in order to come to some understanding on whether his contributions to the city were made in the interest of the people or himself.
In the film we watched in class it was apparent that some people believed he wasn’t for the individuals as much as he was for the overall public and city. But, it’s hard to ignore the fact that some of the public works helped poor, underprivileged and specific racial communities and the reading by Gutman didn’t seem to have a strong position since it mainly just laid out the timeline during the 1930s. So, I found a New York Times article and another piece by Gutman to absolve some confusion.
While creating the parks in working-class neighborhoods was a step in the right direction, the outcome wasn’t as constructive as it could have been. The pools that were meant to be for the people were protested by those living in those communities. They didn’t agree with the WPA wage scale, competition with public pools, and the higher fees to use the public space (Gutman 2007). But nothing came from their demonstrations and they were created anyway. In the end, most minority working-class residents went to “Jones Beach and the Rockaways” over the pools anyway because it was cheaper (Gutman 2007). So, why were the pools considered a success at reaching “everyone” when there were groups who felt more comfortable traveling for fresh air than using the new installment in their own backyard?
The answer to that might be that Moses seemed completely comfortable toeing the line of racial segregation. He never outright kept certain races from using his public pools, but he turned a blind eye when racial discrimination occurred. Since his pools were still “helping” the living situation of the city, it didn’t matter whether the integrity was upheld. In the New York Times article, “Complex, Contradictory Robert Moses” the author depicts the Mid-Manhattan Expressway” as an actual symbol of Moses’s “surgical detachment from the city he was operating on” (Nicolai Ouroussoff 2007). He had a vision and it was made of roads, bridges, and public works. It was the center and the focus. The people were just supporting actors.
Lastly, Gutman recounts in “Race, Place, and Play: Robert Moses and the WPA Swimming Pools in New York City,” that Moses’s “passion for extending the New Deal benefits to New Yorkers of color was less clear” than his plan for NYC (Gutman 2008). We can look at Moses building the pools in urban areas as a positive for the community, but, we must also be critical of the fact that he was making his life easier. It would not only create a better New York City (which seemed to be his only concern), but he was also using “available park land” (Guttman 2007). He got the credit for looking out for smaller and less fortunate communities while also building the pools he wanted so badly and ignoring the inequality they created. His mark was made and he was able to accomplish great things, but was there any thought to how the people would feel or be affected?
And that’s why I wonder if “Master Builder” is actually the perfect title for him. That’s what he was. A master builder…he didn’t do it for the people, didn’t think of the people, or listen to the people. He just built New York City and he did it well.
Sources:
“Equipping the Public Realm: Rethinking Robert Moses and Recreation,” Gutman, Marta. 2007. In Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York, Hillary Ballon and Kenneth Jackson, eds. pp. 72-85
Ouroussoff, Nicolai (2008). Complex, Contradictory Robert Moses. www.nytimes.com/2007/02/02/arts/design/02mose.html
Gutman, Marta (2007). “Race, Place and Play: Robert Moses and the WPA Swimming Pools in New York City. http://www.academia.edu/465674/_Race_Place_and_Play_Robert_Moses_and_the_WPA_Swimming_Pools_in_New_York_City_
