Robert Moses

Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was the master builder of 20th century New York City and its suburbs. As the shaper of a modern city, one of his few peers is Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and he was easily the most polarizing figure in the history of urban planning. Although he never held elective office, Moses was arguably the most powerful person in New York City government from the 1930s to the 1950s. Moses literally changed shorelines, built roadways in the sky, and transformed vibrant neighborhoods forever. His decisions favoring highways over public transport formed the modern suburbs of Long Island and influenced a generation of engineers, architects, and urban planners who spread his philosophies across the nation. Moses was not without his critics, however. These critics have pointed to many things that they say taint Moses' legacy. The most common criticisms of Moses include the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in New York City, contributing to the ruin of the South Bronx and the amusement parks of Coney Island, the departure of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the decline of public transport. On the other hand, Moses' projects were also considered by many to be necessary for the region's development, and Moses participated in the construction of two huge World's Fairs, one in 1939 and the other in 1964. To Moses' critics, however, he will always be remembered for believing that "cities are for traffic," and "if the ends don't justify the means, what does?"

End of the Moses era

Moses's reputation began to wane in the 1960s, as people began to appreciate the virtues of neighborhoods and smallness of scale. Moses also started picking fights with the wrong people over the wrong issues. Moses's campaign against free Shakespeare in the Park received negative publicity; Moses' effort to destroy a shaded playground in Central Park to make a parking lot for the expensive Tavern-on-the Green made him enemies among the middle class voters of the Upper West Side.

Related Topics:
1960s - Shakespeare in the Park - Central Park - Upper West Side

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The opposition reached a crescendo over the demolition of Penn Station, which many attributed to the "development scheme" mentality cultivated by Moses (although a poverty-stricken Pennsylvania Railroad was actually responsible for the demolition). This caused many city residents to turn against Moses' plans to build a Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have cut through what is now Greenwich Village and SoHo. One of his most vocal critics during this time was the urban activist Jane Jacobs, whose book The Death and Life of Great American Cities was instrumental in turning public opinion against Moses' plans. Massive public protests broke out over the plan, and ultimately the city government rejected it in 1964.

Related Topics:
Penn Station - Pennsylvania Railroad - Lower Manhattan Expressway - Greenwich Village - SoHo - Jane Jacobs - The Death and Life of Great American Cities - 1964

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Moses's power was further sapped by his association with the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair. His assumption of an aggregate attendance for this event of 70 million people proved wildly optimistic. His disdain for the opinions of others led to the fair not being sanctioned by the Bureau of International Expositions, the worldwide body supervising such events, which ordered its member nations not to participate.

Related Topics:
1964/1965 New York World's Fair - Bureau of International Expositions

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It was further revealed that Moses's salary as head of the Fair Corporation was a guaranteed $1 million, which seemed to many to be very extravagant for an event that was ostensibly being held for a public purpose, and at a loss, yet. Moses was also linked in the minds of many to the Fair's accounting scandal when it was revealed that all advance ticket sales, even for those sold for use in 1965, were booked as 1964 revenues, even though there seems to be little if any evidence directly linking him to this error. The fair was seen as an attempt by Moses and his cronies to relive their glory days of the 1939 New York World's Fair, rather than as a useful project for the 1960s.

Related Topics:
1965 - 1939 New York World's Fair

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After the World's Fair debacle, New York City mayor John Lindsay, along with Governor Nelson Rockefeller, sought to use toll revenues from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority's bridges and tunnels to cover deficits in the city's then financially ailing subway system. Moses however, opposed this idea and fought to prevent it from happening.

Related Topics:
John Lindsay - Nelson Rockefeller

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Lindsay removed Moses from his post as the city's chief advocate for federal highway money in Washington afterwards, a small victory in what was largely seen as a political misstep.

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But Moses could not so easily fend off Rockefeller, the only politician in the state who had a power base independent of him. The legislature's vote to fold the TBTA into the newly-created Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) could technically have led to a lawsuit by the TBTA bondholders, since the bond contracts were written into state law and under Article 10 of the U.S. Constitution states may not impair existing contractual obligations.

Related Topics:
Metropolitan Transportation Authority - U.S. Constitution

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However, the largest holder of TBTA bonds, and thus agent for all the others, was the Chase Manhattan Bank, headed then by none other than David Rockefeller, the governor's brother. No suit was filed or even discussed.

Related Topics:
Chase Manhattan Bank - David Rockefeller

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So, on March 1, 1968, the TBTA was folded into the MTA and Moses was forced to give up his post as chairman of the TBTA. He eventually became a consultant to the MTA, but for all practical purposes, he was out of power.

Related Topics:
March 1 - 1968

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During the last years of his life he concentrated on his lifelong love of swimming and was an active member of the Colony Hill Country Club.

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