The Power Broker

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert Caro, Vintage, 1975. 

Park Commissioners

Robert Moses served as New York City Park Commissioner for 26 years. Alfred E. Smith, governor of the state of New York, played a major role in the ascension to power of Bob Moses.

Built by Moses

• Van Wyck Expressway to Idlewild (JFK) Airport

• Gowan’s Parkway in Brooklyn

• Cross-Bronx Expressway

• West Side Highway

• Henry Hudson Parkway

• Triborough Bridge

• Verrazano Narrows Bridge

• Throgs Neck Bridge

• Henry Hudson Bridge

• Bronx-Whitestone Bridge

• Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

• New York Coliseum at Columbus Circle

• Jones Beach State Park

Automobiles over Public Transportation

Moses favored automobile highways over public transportation. Moses hoped building a new road would relieve traffic congestion, but the new roads and the old roads were full of traffic from the day the new road opened. Moses blocked the Long Island Expressway from having trains or buses, or even allocating right-of-way for future trains or buses. F. Dodd McHugh tried to get rapid transit incorporated into the Van Wyck Expressway, but Bob Moses blocked him. Interestingly, Robert Moses never learned to drive. 

New York Aquarium

Moses replaced the old New York Aquarium at Fort Clinton in Battery Park with a new aquarium in Coney Island.

Central Park

Robert Moses destroyed a children’s playground in Central Park to build a parking lot for the Tavern-on-the-Green.

Homes Lost

Thousands of New Yorkers lost their homes due to his construction projects.