The beauty of the expressways and highways that Robert Moses has crafted is my ability to get where I want when I want. Although he may have pushed public transportation to the side, there still was, is, and always will be the need for “private” transportation. He has changed so much about daily life just by changing the way we get around. The highway system that he developed allowed for better communication, business, and best of all, the ability for people to branch out because of the ease of transportation.
In order to create something, there must (usually) always be a sacrifice. Some people will suffer, while others prosper. The fact is, no one can please everyone. Yes, Moses may have had a better possible route to build the cross-Bronx expressway, but for some reason, whether it was “creative choice”, or some inner cloudy political influences, what was done has been done. I am not saying the ends justify the means, but rather, with every action there will always be countless pros and cons; what must be done, must be done.
It was very interesting to see that the area that suffered, East Tremont, was not necessarily the lowest economic and social class to begin with. It only developed into bedlam and a lower economic class once construction commenced and people were driven out. The reason I find this observation interesting is because I have learned in an Urban Studies class that train stations and airports are built around lower income and minority filled areas because they don’t have as much power and influence. Rather, here we saw that the lower economic and social class resulted in East Tremont because everyone else was driven out from the construction and rising crime; the converse of what I have been taught.
With everything in life, there is always a side effect. Whether we like it or not, what Robert Moses has accomplished is beyond what one book can do to try to tarnish his name. He worked hard and changed the way New Yorkers travel up until today, and definitely through tomorrow. Complain all you want, but I would like to see you get around New York without one of Robert Mose’s mazes.
