Destany Batista
HNRS 226
Scott Larson
The Astoria Post’s article on Councilman Constantinides highlights the councilman’s ambitious plans to begin an extensive renovation on Astoria Park’s Pool. In addition, the article addresses the relationship between Astoria’s councilman and President Trump. Marta Gaman also addresses the relationship between Robert Moses, master builder of New York City, and the former President Roosevelt.
Both pieces examine a time nearly a century apart, yet hint at the complex economic relationships between the government at local and federal levels. Robert Moses managed to manipulate the federal government’s money in order to fund his ambitious public facility projects (Gutman 2007). The federal government under President Roosevelt provided New York City, and thus Robert Moses, with the money to work on public concerns (Gutman 2007).
Councilmember Constantinides received his money through a different elected official, this official being the mayor of New York City (Law 2018). The sources of New York City’s money has vastly changed; in particular, the federal government no longer funds the city’s park programs (Judd, Swanstrom 2010) . The people of New York City no longer look to federal politicians to fund their public facilities. Local government is responsible for funding, carrying out, and fixing all pools and parks in New York City (Judd, Swanstrom 2010).
Furthermore, they both address the changing perceptions of the President by the people of New York City. Gone are the days in which residents of New York City listened to fireside chats and chanted the president’s name during park opening. In current times, local elected officials feel the need to inform their constituents that the President doesn’t have the correct approach in policy reform. “We will show our native son in the Oval Office that it is tolerance and love, not division and discord, that lie at the heart of the Queens we love and that light the path to our future.” said Councilmember Constantinides (Law 2018).
In direct opposition, Gaman stated that the president was cheered during the times of Robert Moses’ involvement with the parks of New York City (Gutman 2007). Though it is no surprise that times have changed and our presidents’ values have changed, it’s interesting to note just how varied our perceptions of the president could be.
Finally, both pieces point to the changed expectations of the time in which public pool projects are completed. Councilmember Constantinides had this to say about his ambitions to renovate the Astoria Park Pool, “Now, let’s be clear…it will not be completed before I leave office. All of us, however, have a responsibility to ensure that we leave things better than we found them, and while it will be daunting, I believe that we can do it.” (Law 2018) The councilmember had no date for when the project would be completed or even started, but he felt he had a responsibility to the public in fixing the park.
Moses had a similar sense of responsibility, but his projects were much more streamlined. Perhaps this is because the Parks Department was so much smaller during his time and more people were willing to work for less, but projects were completed much more quickly. The Parks Department, in modern New York City, is known for being one of the slowest working departments in the city.
While there is still a sense of responsibility to constituents and the public by local officials, the culture of New York City’s departments, elected officials, and residents have changed. New York City is no longer dependant on the federal government for funding projects, and the President is no longer held to as a high a standard as the position used to be. However, there is hope in the fact that elected officials still want to maintain public facilities and improve them for the people of New York City.
References
“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
Judd D, Swanstrom T (2010) City finances and the dynamics of growth. In Judd D, Swanstrom T (ed) City Politics: The Political Economy of Urban America (pp 289-316). New York: Pearson.
Law T (2018) Constantinides plans to get funding to revamp Astoria Pool, announcement made at state of the district speech. https://astoriapost.com/constantinides-plans-get-funding-revamp-astoria-pool-announcement-made-state-district-speech (last accessed 23 February 2018).
