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Jeffrey Syken
“If the ends don’t justify the means, what does?”
Robert Moses
With those nine words, the life and times of Robert Moses – New York City’s “Master Builder” is pretty well summed up. He was in power for over forty years (1924-1968) and in that time, he transformed America’s largest city as nobody has before or since. The “end” may have been a public park, bridge, highway, housing etc. and the means was eminent domain – the power of the government to confiscate property for public works projects. His influence transcended New York City; it was felt throughout New York State and, indeed, the entire nation.
He was born into wealth and privilege and yearned to use the power of government to make the lives of ordinary people better. His chance to make his mark on the world came when he met Al Smith – former Governor of New York State and presidential candidate (1928), in 1924. They came from opposite ends of the social spectrum, but got on famously and it was his appointment by Smith as Long Island Parks Commissioner that started the ball rolling for Moses’ forty-four years in power. The result was Jones Beach – a sandbar serving as a playground for Long Island’s wealthy elite transformed into a public park of epic proportions. With the creation of Jones Beach, the die was cast and in the mind of the public, Moses could do no wrong.
In the years that followed, Moses’ star continued to rise and by the end of the 1930s, he held multiple positions of power. To build a public park on a millionaire’s private domain was one thing, to destroy a neighborhood and displace thousands of people in the process was something else entirely. With “urban renewal” came progress, but not without a price for the people, buildings, businesses and infrastructure that got in the way. Moses’ popularity began its descent into the abyss with the Cross Bronx Expressway project of the early 1950s that, unlike other projects, destroyed vital, prosperous neighborhoods – not just slums. Some said Moses’ was drunk with power, others that he had lost touch with reality, but the politicians he served saw him as their tool to “get things done.” His legacy of roads, bridges, public parks, cultural centers and housing projects that make New York the city it is today speaks for itself; for better or for worse.
This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.
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