Hilary Ballon Ph.D.Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York

I received a used copy {in excellent condition} and tore thru it immeadiately. The pictures showing the panorama of Commissioner Mose's accomplishments were stunning. The roads, bridges, giant swimming pools and other building projects completed {and not completed} are examined in detail in how they were funded/ built and the subsequent history - all excellently presented. But this is not a "coffee table book of pictures - its narrative is crisply written, informative and does a good job in contrasting its 2012- 2014 positive revisonist views of Robert Moses {which I am totally in agreement with} "vis a vie" Robert Caro's now debatable views of Mr Moses that he wrote about so eloquently 40 + years ago - chronicling a much different era of N.Y.C. viewpoint from Mr.Caro's 1968-74 economic, social and political perspectives/information when he researched and wrote his book..That chapter - Robert Moses and the Rise of New York "The Power Broker in Perspective"is an excellent overview on this controversial issue. New York City in 2014 is a still in a world class city. Why ? This book reveals a more positive view of the greatness of Robert Moses's accomplishments based on the 2014 lens/vision which are still the 21st century backbone of the N.Y.C. five [5] boro's and metropolitian area. Without what Commissioner Moses envisioned, planned and built between 1924 and 1968 - parks, roads, beaches, bridges, tunnels, highways, housing and other infra structure - N.Y.C. would not have the basic infrastructure in 2014 needed to continue to be a viable city in the 21st century.To a some extent this book debunks R. Caro's theories that Commissioner Moses was an all powerfull "steamroller" effortlessly flattening everything in his path. In many instances he had to "fight like hell" to get his projects built and he also lost quite a few battles along the way. This book's reasoning is weakest where R.Caro's "The Power Broker" is strongest - it has very little to say {or disputes} about how R.Moses continually twisted and bent the NYC and NY State political system to his will as Mr Caro brillantly describes in the chapter titled "Leading Out the Regiment" which [in my opinion} is the best thing in Caro's entire book. AND YET given the NYC, NYS and Federal government politcal and funding realities during his era how else would Commissioner Moses been able to accomplish so much ?The book's narrative half- heartedly tries to mute Commissioner Moses social, racial arrogance and prejudice but it does not really succeed. Robert Moses in these areas was a despiciable human being - no question about it. The chapter on the Urban Renewal/Title One Programs is {in my opinion} one of the best things in this book as it brilliantly disects the issues, problems, pitfalls, successes and problems that Commissoner Moses had to overcome to make N.Y.C Urban Renewal in an overall context - very successfull. But as Mr. Caro understated in "The Power Broker" {which remains true to this day} - Large cities are still trying to find ways to "get things done" to initiate and complete large scale municiple and highway projects in a reasonable amount of time within a democratic process and setting.To date in 2014, we still {at least in New York City } are still groping for solutions to find ways to do so. Since 1974, N.Y.C. have added 15 - YES !! 15 miles of new highways to what Commissoner Moses built prior to 1974. Since 1975, the population of N.Y.C has increased by over 1.5 million people and the surrounding metropolitan areas by millions more ! N.Y.C has over 30 million tourists visting in 2014. The roads, bridges parks, beaches and housing that were created during the Moses era {1924-1968} are supporting millions of additional citizens and tourists undreamed of when they were conceived and built.Without Robert Moses vision, guts, genius AND his ruthless, relentless drive to succeed to get the money and "BUILD IT" can anyone dispute that but a tiny fraction of the infrastructure he envisioned, planned and built between 1924 and 1968 that supports Americas greatest city and adjacent metropolitian areas would exist today ? Why was Commissoner Moses essential or if you dislike him "a necessary evil"? Just take the example of the rebuilding of the World Trade Center - over 10 years of political infighting with everyone at every political level, city, state, local and grassroots organizations all wanting to "spit in the soup" and FINALLY - in early 2014 the rebuild has finally been nearly completed. Or had he died in 1936 - what would the city look like today and how much of N.Y.C's current infrastructure would not have been built ?This book agrees with "The Power Broker" in making one thing abundantly clear - without Robert Mose's, planning genius,and financial wherewithall to "GET THE MONEY" in order to be able to build ANYTHING coupled with his astonishing vision - there would be no Long Island Parks System or Beaches, no state or city park systems, no intergrated system of highways and bridges to link the New York City's five {5} boro's and metropolitian area, no Lincoln Center, no Jones or Orchard Beaches Verranzano Narrows Bridge Etc Etc Etc.Being coldly and soberly realistic, the people that Moses displaced in the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s from neighborhood's/ apartment buildings chronicled in "The Power Broker" are mostly dead and gone BUT in 2014 Robert Mose's highways, bridges, beaches, parks and other building projects ,150,000 + housing authority apartments to the world famous Lincoln Center Complex are still in use by 10's of millions of city residents and vistors from all over the world and {if mankind survives the 21st century}this handi-work of Commissioner Mose will continue to be used by 100's of millions of people for generations to come.When you accomplish as much as Mr. Moses did in his life the arrogance and ego-mania he displayed is understandable if not very nice. For the Robert Moses and his legacy - "The ends did justify the means" AND "the needs of the many out weighed the needs of the few". This excellent book validates that as time marches on the legacy of Robert Moses and his vision/accomplishments are going to look better and better to more and more of us until the current crop of power brokers figure out how to "GET THINGS DONE !!! This book is an outstanding achievement that goes a long way to balance the 40 + years of "Liberal "Nimby's" accumulated residue of "The Power Broker's" dislike, disdain and derision of Robert Moses and his legacy. A five {5} star book - Highly recommended.

It is a comprehensive outlook on urban planning and the importance of endurance and stability when city projects are long term spanning decades of population growth and living tendencies.

Please note before you buy this book....It is not written document or story about Robert MosesIt is a picture book with some description of what the photos are about

In 1974 Robert Caro published his damaging account of the public works of Robert Moses in the city of New York. It is a brilliant biography of Big Bob the Builder. Caro stressed the outright evils of the Moses way of planning, his belief in auto mobility in contrast to mass transport, the slum clearance projects which evicted lower income residents, his hostility to the needs of black New Yorkers, his abuse of power. But this perspective needs reassessment. Hilary Ballon and Kenneth T. Jackson collected eight short essays in a nice book titled `Robert Moses and the Modern City'. The essays provide a revised perspective on Robert Moses. Robert Moses did modernize the urban infrastructure of New York, no one will ever have the same impact. But even Big Bob the Builder had to act within a system of constraints. Moses fashioned his image of the power broker, but he didn't possess superpower. He fought other powers, other bureaucratic stakeholders, the federal government with its rules and laws. In fact, Robert Moses had the capacity to think big. He tried to preserve the middle class for New York, he fought dispersal and he promoted the inclusion of cultural and educational institutions within the city. This reappraisal of the public works of Robert Moses is a welcome contribution to the debate about the rise or fall of New York.Luuk Oost

I ordered this book knowing a bit about Robert Moses, but this book completed the picture of this very intelligent, driven and complex man. I felt it was not overly harsh or praising in it's assessment of him, but in the end I walked away with an incredible appreciation for all that he did. I had never realized how much he had accomplished over the course of his career. Perhaps it was the nature of those times, his arrogance or power he usurped, but in NYC today it would take 20 years to get just one of his projects done. And it would not possess the quality of design or craftsmanship his projects have....and as for the mid manhattan expressway that he proposed, but never built because of community opposition... I guarantee if it was built people would be saying now "imagine if they didn't let Robert Moses built this how awful it would be to get around town!"

A collection of essaies which should be on the bookshelf of anyone even casually interested with city planning or the history of New York The book provides much of the factual evidence lacking in Robert Caro's epic biography of Robert Moses and clarifies the reasons for some of his conclusions This volume explains in large measure the current 2014 state of New York parks, parkways, bridges and public housing although a volume about Edward Logue would. more completely explain the last topic A chronicle about the actual achievements of Robert Moses was long overdue before the appearance of this volume and it should serve as the foundation to analyse current city infrastructure and how it can be adapted to needs of future generations

Lovely book with tons of images. Ideal for anyone interested in urban design, city-planning, etc.

Everyone praises The Power Broker but in some ways this is better. I know that’s heretical. A detailed account with a lot of nuance for what is basically a catalogue of a museum exhibition. Pictures are great.