Robert Moses Was New York’s Leading Planner Of the 20th Century

When most people think of Robert Moses, they’re thinking of the Beach on the South Shore On Central Long Island, Robert Moses New York State Park.  Robert Moses was the leading planner of the 20th Century in the Long Island NYC regions.

Robert Moses was born to Emanuel Moses, a department-store owner, and Bella Silverman Moses, on December 18, 1888. He grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, and then on East 46th Street in Manhattan. He was accepted to Yale University at the age of 17, and he graduated in 1909. Subsequently, he received a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 1914. In 1913, he began working for the Municipal Research Bureau, a research and advisory arm for the nationwide municipal government reform movement. By 1922, Moses had become involved with the construction of various parks and highways1.

Robert Moses played a larger role in shaping the physical environment of New York City than probably any other figure in the 20th century. He constructed parks, highways, bridges, playgrounds, housing, tunnels, beaches, zoos, civic centers, exhibition halls and the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair. When his tenure as chief of the state park system came to a close, New York had an unprecedented 2,567,256 acres of parkland. He built 658 playgrounds in New York City, 416 miles of parkways, and 13 bridges.

Robert Moses made New York into a city of mass transit. He was principally responsible for the construction of major public projects in the state and city of New York including the Triborough Bridge, Queens Midtown Tunnel, Bronx Whitestone Bridge, the Henry Hudson Bridge, the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, the Throg’s Neck Bridge, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, the Westside Highway, Jones Beach State Park, Robert Moses State Parks, the Robert Moses Power Plant on the Saint Lawrence River, and the Robert Moses Power Dam on the Niagara River. He also drafted the legislation that established authorities such as the Jones Beach State Park Authority and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. Moses was a great city planner and master builder who possessed remarkable political acumen. Over the course of his life Moses wielded a substantial amount of political clout by holding multiple governmental positions simultaneously.

Moses is a controversial figure in the history of New York. He was directly involved with many public works programs, and yet, he frequently dismissed perpetual public opposition to his work.

In 1974, Robert Caro published a highly critical biography of Robert Moses, entitled The Power Broker, a work that won him a Pulitzer Prize. Caro accused Moses of removing entire neighborhoods of people in an effort to create urban renewal, thus destroying the traditional character of the urban landscape. In 1969, Moses published his side of the story in an autobiography, which he called Public Works: A Dangerous Trade. Moses was married two times in his life, and had two daughters. He died on July 29, 1981 at the age of 92.

Offices Held

• Special Advisor to the Governor of New York State on Housing, 1974- 1975
• President, Long Island State Parks Commission, 1924-1963
• Chairman, NY State Council of Parks, 1924-1963
• Secretary of State, New York State, 1927-1928
• President, Jones Beach Parkway Authority, 1933-1963
• President, Bethpage State Park Authority, 1933-1963
• Chairman, Emergency Public Works Commission, 1933-34
• Commissioner, NYC Department of Parks, 1934-1960
• Chairman, Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, 1934-1981
• NYC Planning Commissioner, 1946-1960
• Chairman, New York State Power Authority, 1954-1962
• President, New York’s World Fair, 1960-1966

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Involvement in Preservation Campaigns and Related Activities

Robert Moses’ personal interests as a city planner and builder frequently led him to clash with civic minded individuals and organizations who were concerned with preserving the traditional fabric of New York’s urban landscape. In fact, Moses is one of the primary motivating factors behind the formal organization of preservationists. Robert Moses threatened the civic beauty and historical significance of New York.

However, Moses, ever the controversial character, also delivered a large number of public works. The facilities that he built, such as new playgrounds, swimming pools, and parks, were immensely popular amongst the populations who benefited from them. He is also credited with proposing the Special Parks Zoning Appeal to protect the city’s parks.

Robert Moses was noted for his skilled playing of political hardball, as well as his ability to maintain speedy approvals to enact his building plans. By 1939, when Robert Moses announced his plan to construct a Brooklyn-Battery Bridge, he theoretically possessed the power necessary to obtain permission to do so. He planned to maintain control of the proposed bridge, whereas if the original plan to build a tunnel was enacted, he would not have obtained similar authority. The struggle over construction of the Brooklyn-Battery Bridge was the forerunner to all future preservation battles. This battle introduced the issue of maintaining New York’s scenic beauty, the significance of which became a primary concern for preservationists. The masterminds behind the opposition to Moses were New York civic reformers Stanley Isaacs, George McAneny, Albert Bard, and C.C. Burlingham. The opposing forces would continuously employ the argument of aesthetics, even appealing to Franklin Roosevelt on these grounds. Moses’ plan for the Brooklyn Battery-Bridge was eventually blocked by the War Department, and a tunnel was built instead.

Moses responded to his defeat with the Brooklyn- Battery Bridge by closing the New York Aquarium, an adaptive reuse of the historic Castle Clinton. Civic efforts to attain landmark preservation were aided as a result of Moses’ attack on Castle Clinton. The battle over Castle Clinton was a decade long endeavor. Moses was only successful in destroying the roof of the structure. Preservation efforts were able to save the building’s remaining circular wall.

A common theme that permeated among Moses’ projects, was for big planned development and slum clearance rather than organic city growth. His main counterpart who successfully challenged his projects was civic activist Jane Jacobs. Her famous book The Death and Life of Great American Cities captured the fervor of the time by revealing the dangers of the post-war economic building boom. The book illustrated the problems associated with large-scale urban renewal projects which not only threaten the aesthetic environment by demolishing historic buildings but also destroyed community and city vitality. Jacobs encouraged city diversity by providing mixed-use development while preserving the historic environment. She waged countless battles against many of Moses’ proposed projects.

In the postwar 1940’s, Robert Moses again posed a significant threat, this time in Washington Square. Jane Jacobs spearheaded advocacy campaigns to prevent Moses’ grand schemes which threatened to alter Washington Square Park and Greenwich Village.

In 1952, Moses announced his plan to create two roads, each thirty-eight feet wide, through Washington Square Park, that would flank the Washington Square Arch. South of the arch, between the two roads, he planned to construct a playground. In 1958, Jane Jacobs and Shirley Hayes formed the Joint Emergency Committee to Close Washington Square Park to Traffic. They garnered public support by engaging in demonstrations and protests in the park. More importantly, they used political means to get the Board of Estimate to close traffic in the park. The success at defeating Moses’ proposal was remarkable given Moses’ political power in city government.

Robert Moses was also the Chairman of the city’s Slum Clearing Commission. With its bulldozer approach, Moses’ Slum Clearing Committee prepared to swallow up the entire Northeast corner of Brooklyn Heights through the Cadman Plaza Project. His desire was to enact his new urban vision of strictly planned communities, unencumbered by the remains of the old. Consequently, certain parts of Brooklyn Heights, including an area known as Willow Town, faced demolition. The Willow Town Association, led by Meredith Langstaff, fought for the preservation of Willow Town, and argued that, “Willow Town was not a slum.” The Title One Housing that Moses proposed to erect in the cleared areas, would consist of “efficiency apartments, small apartments, small, very expensive apartments.” Between the demolition of Willow Town, and the proposal to construct unsightly housing in Brooklyn Heights, Moses enraged many of the area’s residents, who effectively rallied together to prevent Moses from enacting his plan.

Moses was also responsible for suggesting the construction of the controversial Central Park Café Pavilion to supermarket heir Huntington Hartford. The proposed Pavilion was never approved.

Throughout his career, Robert Moses posed a consistent threat to New York’s physical landscape, and it was largely in response to this danger that New Yorkers organized in effort to obtain formal landmark protection legislation.