The overarching theme I’ve seen here is the question, is Robert Moses a blessing or a dictator? In the introduction there were two stories that demonstrates the authors point of view on this timeless question. The two stories are parallel to one another and reveal the side of Robert Moses that is sly, persistent, and not always democratic.
Moving on to the three chapters, I saw Robert Moses in action. He built highways, parks, and recreated the city. However he displaced many people out of their homes and sometimes when he might have been able to do without the displacement. The people were in upset but many did not think they had the power to stop Moses. Some tried and even succeeded in stalling for five years in court. They brought in engineers proving that Moses could have moved his public works and still could have had his highway while the people still had their homes.
The real question I was struggling with throughout the reading was did Robert Moses do something wrong and could have been done without his undemocratic ways. It’s hard to say, because Robert Moses destroyed many people’s lives. But while he wasn’t the nicest of men, he completed so much and made New York what it is today.
