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?"

The battle of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel/ Proposed Bridge

In the late 1930s it was decided to build an additional vehicular link between Brooklyn and lower Manhattan. The decision was between a bridge and a tunnel. A bridge requires an enormous amount of space where it lands, a tunnel very little. A Brooklyn Battery Bridge would have destroyed Battery Park and (possibly) harmed the financial district. The bridge was opposed by historical preservationists, Wall Street financial interests and property owners, high society people, construction unions (since a tunnel would be more work for them), the Manhattan borough president, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, and governor Herbert H. Lehman.

Related Topics:
1930s - Brooklyn - Manhattan - Battery Park - Wall Street - Construction - Unions - Fiorello LaGuardia - Herbert H. Lehman

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Moses favored a bridge, however, as it could carry more automobile traffic than a tunnel and would serve as a visible monument. More traffic meant more tolls, and more tolls meant more money and therefore more power. LaGuardia and Lehman, as usual, had no money to spend and the federal government had by this point felt it had given New York enough. Moses, because of his control of Triborough, had money to spend, and he decided his money could only be spent on a bridge.

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The United States Navy has the power to block anything that spans a major waterway, so President Roosevelt ordered the Navy to assert that a bridge, if bombed, would block the East River. A dubious claim, it nevertheless stopped Moses. In retaliation for being prevented from building his bridge, Moses dismantled the aquarium that had been in Castle Clinton. Ultimately he was forced to settle for a tunnel connecting Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan, now called the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

Related Topics:
United States Navy - East River - Aquarium - Castle Clinton - Brooklyn Battery Tunnel

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