Meantime

[smokingboot]

Work. Study. Netflix. Read.

Latest book, 'The Power Broker' a biography of Robert Moses. Meaty, very meaty and I have no idea how fair it is...

But it's a cool reminder that some day we'll return to NYC.

Comments

[mallorys_camera]

My friend BB swears by that Robert Moses bio and has been trying to get me to read that and Caro's Lyndon Johnson biography for years.

In my opinion, Robert Moses really fucked up NYC.

[smokingboot]

It's fascinating; New York comes across as this insane jigsaw of public administration. As yet I have no vision as to what Bob Moses destroyed and what he replaced, due to my woeful lack of historical knowledge re NYC. The author has made comment regarding the uprooted communities, and I think he means to go into more detail about them. But for now he's focusing on Bob's characteristics during his time at the bureau for municipal research, his arrogance and idealism. I suspect this theme will be revisited...

[mallorys_camera]

Moses built all these expressways, which turned NYC into a place where people drove cars.

NYC has and had a great public transportation system. Cars are completely unnecessary in NYC. They cause great havoc there. The expressways were built with money that could have gone into improving the public transportation system.

And, yes. The construction of the expressways decimated the neighborhoods.