If you haven't read 'The Power Broker', do yourself a favor and read it. Robert Moses lived such a consequential life and accumulated power in such a way, it was eye popping. I just finished the book and found this clip. It was great to see and hear Robert Moses in this video. Even at 88 years old, you can sense that he was a true force of nature he was in his career. Seeing his hostility (still) towards the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the subway system fits right in line with what you read in the book.
after reading "the power broker" back in 2005 always wanted to know more about Robert Moses, got to say that he wasn't the hero we wanted, but; he was the hero we needed hehehehe
Holy Wow! What an incredible video! So glad it’s here. I’m almost done reading ‘The Power Broker’. What an incredible book. I can see why it’s a Pulitzer Prize winner. Can you imagine the research it took to compile this massive book? 17:04 He’s talking about the displaced people on one of his projects. He doesn’t give a damn at all, he was so driven by his need to build on a grand scale, that he had no use for human beings. His ability to secure funding for any of his projects was absolutely incredible! 24:16 He secured his funding by his ‘Unalterable bond covenants’, Even though the numbers were hard to follow, that was one of the parts of the book I found truly fascinating. The pictures really do tell a thousand words. How his mind thought on such a massive scale - can be seen by any of the pictures in the book and on the internet. What a full life this guy lived, such a mad genius with his flaws and all. Thank you for posting this gem.
I JUST finished 'The Power Broker' and this video is amazing. He has absolute contempt for anyone that stands in his way (and keep in mind, this interview was shot nearly 10 years after he was finally driven from power. Can you imagine what he was like when he still had power??)
He killed the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, razed entire neighborhoods, leveled historic buildings, and threw thousands into homelessness, and was entirely unaccountable.Not a hero!
I am not a Moses fan, but the notion that he put people into homelessness is hyperbole. If anything, he kept NY affordable and was involved in several of the city's most significant public housing projects and middle-income housing complexes.
@@kevsta67 No it wouldn't lol. If he didn't build the highways people wouldn't be as likely to drive into the city. He induced more car traffic by making it easier to get into the city in a car.
@@ekayaniperformsThe 9/29/24 podcast episode of Consider This indicated 500K were displaced without compensation of any kind, contrary to Moses’ claim.
great find Mr Stone.....i just finished the "Power Broker" for the 3rd time.....i still feel like i want more every time i finish it.....when the interviewer said"there's a lot of protest/resistance now to big projects.......thats something you never contended with". .....i almost died.....there's been protests all the way from Jones Beach to the Verrazzano bridge....but he considered these critics a small nuisance......the comments below summed it up perfectly.....Caro's descriptions of all the mannerisms and gestures and arrogance were so spot on....even in this interview ....when he smacks that giant hand down on that desk i could just see him at 45 years old intimidating everybody....especially his muchachos......that question cracked me up
Should be in every hotel/motel room right next to the Bible,!" Prof. I. Ver Mectin Ps. Mr. Ed says "H E L L O "( don't forget my apple flavored jelly).
Same here, after reading "the power broker" back in 2005 always wanted to know more about Robert Moses, got to say that he wasn't the hero we wanted, but; he was the hero we needed hehehehe
It's almost like I'm watching someone I know. The fact that he called Al Smith "governor" and his objection to the public hearings are just two things where I had to smile. Caro really does a fantastic job at getting these details across.
The way he steamrolls the interviewed interjection and then refers to another man as arrogant in the same breath is insane. The fact that I had no surprise is an incredible testament to Robert Caro.
30:56 Wow! This interview is crazy. He’s talking about how he became a ‘one man job’, in charge of: The Tunnel Authority, Parks Commission & Bridge Authority & more. This was how he gained so much power in New York. page 633 ‘The Power Broker’.
He gained individual power because some very powerful factions, both visible and invisible, wanted one individual to have the power to execute what they wanted, with non-democratic efficiency.
I'm watching this after having just finished Caro's "The Best Bill Drafter in Albany" - where Moses pulls that Michael-Corleone-at-the-end-of-part-1 mass grab for power through the bill establishing the responsibilities of the new state parks council - and it's actually perfect timing. Caro ends the chapter with something along the lines of: "As soon as Moses got power, he made it clear how he was going to use it." I was going to wait until I'd finished the book before watching this, but getting it as sort of a forward-looking intermission is really fascinating. Thanks for uploading it!
That was also a key moment for me - reading about how Moses inserted elements into the bills he drafted that he could then access to his benefit many years later.
Unbelievable what he got done, what he got away with and what was fortunately prevented. His disdain for people in general and people opposing him in particular is fascinating, even today. His obsession with cars, roads and bridges was unbelievable.
Brilliant Video. Thank You Daniel Stone. In a peculiar fashion, “The Power Broker”- this magnum opus of a nonfiction is never in any manner less than a fiction. What Mr. Caro does to the characters and events in this book can ever be surpassed in the quality of prose by none but a countable few. The book speaks on the various manifestations of the character of a power wielding human being which have a profound impact on the lives of millions of lesser endowed people in a political setup. The personality of Robert Moses as portrayed in the book will leave the reader with mixed feelings of love and hate for the man who reshaped the way the greatest city in the world looks at present while at the same time trampling the ordinary man under his Commissionership’s powerful juggernaut. Moses grossly violated human rights of thousands of poor people of New York for his great projects but could those monumental works ever have been done without such unstoppable force? Could the works of such magnitude be done with the same kind of administrative Fiat in the modern times? The reader may be left to answer those questions for himself. On 27th October, 2015, Robert A. Caro made a rare appearance onstage at London in a talk moderated by William Hague. In his talk Mr. Caro talked about all the dynamics of power working in civilised democratic societies. Mr. William Hague was very much correct in suggesting the publishers to publish the original work on Robert Moses comprising about 1 mn 50 k words. Readers of the works of Mr. Caro must join together their voices for publication of the original and uncut version of "The Power Broker" as a collector's edition. At least now, the publishers can rest assured of the commercial success of the original unabridged book. It's my earnest request. Mr. Hague may certainly chose to lead our voices.
Power Broker is a towering achievement...but the publisher cut Janet Jacobs out for length ,,, i couldn't believe it at first. that was arguably Moses downfall. Why not publish an extended version? The book is a classic of non-fiction. Why? there must be a reason
Just finished the Power Broker (the audiobook version, in fact) and it’s incredible finally seeing and hearing Moses in action. A young man in an old man’s body. He never stops moving.
"if you had a limited political power and unlimited funds how would you rebuild New York?" "...Well of course nobody ever has unlimited funds" Telling, isn't it.
I finished the book a couple weeks ago. It took me about 2 months to read. It is an incredible book with so much detail. This video is a great compliment to the book.
37:49 the way he says that they planned to build the verazzano and they built in just shows his animosity towards those that tried to stand in his way.
If you took the bridge or many of the other works projects that is Moses's legacy can you imagine life without them? We should be lucky he pushed these things through.
Host is a cool guy. Shout out to him. Via Wiki: " (March 12, 1945 - November 2, 2020) was an American journalist and author. He was noted for his work as a contributing editor to for over 20 years. He also wrote for other American magazines such as , , and . He authored six nonfiction books, including , about Jann Wenner and his magazine."
Robert Sam Anson the host way ahead of his time as an interviewer. Similar to Charlie Rose in a way. He really got Moses to open up and even smile. Super job, Mr. Anson.
Just finished reading the Power Broker today! What a great book and what a great interview. The old boy still had it at 89!!! Interesting that he had nothing bad to say about Rockefeller considering he's the one who all but tricked him to go along with the MTA merger and conspired with his brothers bank regarding breaking Triborough's bond covenants. Loved the 2nd/3rd rate men in 1st rate jobs haha!!
"It also offers a definitive argument against rolling chairs." I've read Caro's book twice but have actually never seen video of Moses. I see here an amazing continuity between his train of thought and the spinning, rolling chair he is occupying. It is kind of mesmerizing.
A brilliant racist that made him incredibly wealthy and imposed economic hardship for millions of black and Puerto Rican citizens by destroying their neighborhoods and businesses and relegating them to communities of redlined unappreciating real estate that inhibited generational wealth building. These redlined communities he designed for them would never be able to build businesses owned by the people who lived there because they were restricted from acquiring bank loans, and the low valued homes could not contribute to adequate infrastructure and education Through property taxes. With certainty, the majority of you who wrote these glowing comments were not impacted by his actions. Clearly he was brilliant, but so was Jefferson who owned 600 human beings, which he worked to death, never paid, and fathered children by a 14-year-old girl who was his sex slave - 💯facts!
@@hunahpuyamamoto3964 the contempt in his voice is chilling. By all accounts, the neighborhoods Moses slated for destruction were thriving, if not low income. What made them “slums” in his mind was that they were largely non-white.
@@hunahpuyamamoto3964 I’ve read the book. Yes, Moses would bulldoze anything and anyone that stood in the way of his projects. BUT, looking at his projects in NYC, the overwhelming majority of people who were displaced by his projects were poor and non-white.
@@hunahpuyamamoto3964 it’s hardly controversial to say that Moses was openly racist and his projects were a net negative for poor, minority communities in New York. I don’t understand why you are so eager to defend him
My college class in Public Administration read the Power Broker in 1978... I decided to write Robert Moses a fan letter, and he wrote me back a personal signed letter thanking me... I still have it, even the envelope, and he sent an 8 x 10 photo too.
Dr. Moses was not above small acts of kindness. His befriending of young David Oats who trespassed on the 1964 World’s Fair construction led to a lifelong friendship between the two. Such an enigmatic man, Moses, and still fascinating to this day.
Along with the tragic death of his (only) grandson in an automobile accident several years before his downfall, being abruptly removed from public influence seemed to bring Robert Moses a humbling dose of humility, tempering somewhat his mercurial ambitions and teaching him that, no matter how hard he tried, there was no escaping the awful curse of immortality. I dread to think how much worse of a tyrant Moses would've become in advanced age if Gov. Rockefeller hadn't had the political backing to depose the old man in '68. It is doubtful he would've gone so quietly if this coup had been done ten - let alone twenty - years earlier when he was at the peak of his power.
You can see it all in this interview; his greatness and his pettiness - saying things that should be beneath him. Without the rancor, would he have achieved so much? Probably not. [The interviewer should have told him his obligation was to the citizens of NYC, not auto-workers in Detroit.]
Fascinating interview. Yes he was quite the character and a bit arrogant and power hungry. I can see why he’s easy to dislike and may seem like a jerk but he sure spoke his mind lol. But the man was a genius and got a lot done. His longevity and accomplishments speak for themselves. A flawed human being he let power get the better of him and that will deservedly taint his legacy.
You can't talk about the history of New York without talking about Robert Moses. The guy was absolutely brilliant, probably a genius, but brutal. He had these plans and no one was going to stand in his way. Sometimes he got thwarted and sometimes he got his vision through. Made a lot of enemies along the way, but he certainly left an incredible mark.
Certainly he wasn’t brilliant. A brilliant man would have understood that relying on car traffic in a dense urban area is impossible out of simple physics, it needs way to much space compared to public transport. I would rather say he was a highly intelligent psychopath.
@@hanswurstmaxdurst4039 All of the best highway especially freeway builders realized that trying to go right through cities instead of around them in a position that prioritized the needs of travel and commerce not commuting was nothing but a problem to be avoided at all costs. Our best freeway system was built in the middle of nowhere over the mountains to have a road that's basically an autobahn clone that be driven fast in summer where every vehicle from a 2 trailer semi down can pass freely and spread out to the needs of their load and their drivers skill level and everyone can keep going without obstructing anyone else or slowing down for anyone else and it actually works as advertised because it was built to connect actual far flung places that will never physically be able to sprawl into eachother as a 200km long megaopolis because of geography. Automobile especially trucks of all sizes will always be one of the greatest inventions to me still. Urban people's bad experience with them are valid because the whole situation of cars and cities now is a terrible misuse of a tool but it doesnt take away from all of the things across the vast land that wouldnt be possible without it. Also mass ownership of automobiles in cities led to more automobiles being manufactured as status symbols that dont work as well when you need to actually use them as tools. Urban freeway planners like Moses turned their cities into massive speed bumps of gridlock. Chokepoints on a cross continental high speed highway system. I dont understand cities very much but it's obvious that cities and freeways are technologies that cant occupy the same space. Short distance low speed stop and go travel is also the most fuel inefficient thing you can do with a full size automobile built to go fast over long distances so without the overuse of cars in city gridlock there would probably still be 50 cent gas. Cars and trucks get choked up too from driving like that their entire lives.
It's a bit of Column A, bit of Column B isn't it? Moses was brilliant in many respects, especially in matters of planning, organizing, delegating, law and beurocracy. But he was also classist, racist, megalomaniacal, and above all else intensely arrogant. Arrogant to the point where, in his mad fit of ripping apart New York City, he failed to consider the input of others and even laughed in their faces. At the height of his power, Moses wouldn't listen to anyone, least of all his underlings, his architects and engineers. It is fair to call Moses Brilliant, because he was. It is also fair to call him a bastard, for a great many reasons.
Hi, I'm Matty Iannielli. And I will build the Long Island Sound Crossing as well as the Oyster Bay Rye Bridge (NY 135/I-287), the Northport Norwalk Bridge (NY 231/US 7), the Shoreham New Haven Tunnel (Suffolk CR 46/I-91), and the Orient Point Watch Hill Bridge (I-495 to Rhode Island) when I finish college so that I can make Long Island Great Again! That's why I was born! Love, Matty Iannielli. 💕🙂☮️
What I find most fascinating about RM is that he was an unstoppable madman on a mission. The same (necessary) qualities in him that got everything done incorrectly were still _exactly_ the qualities needed to actually get anything done at all. The man who most achieves is also the man most hated. We can at least say he would have never allowed New York to become what DeBlasio, Cuomo and AOC allowed it to be. He would have put them right where they belonged. It took a freaking Rockefeller to dethrone this man, and unlike Caesar or Napoleon, he was busy long after his fall. Just an amazing case study of a human being and we can all at least learn from his better qualities.
@@TheCanningiteno no, they have a point. Moses was frequently described as a man who didn't care much for fashion or keeping a well-kempt appearance. A fact that remained true, it seems, into his old age.
@@ericroy5188 stop tripping over yourselves to be offended. Life must be pretty amazing that so many have it so good that their day is spent seeking our offense and getting into others business. Thanks for admitting you have such a nice life. Again, she hasn't accounted anything. When she refers to herself as AMERICAN then I'll refer to her as American. She herself claims to be a statistic so I'll refer to her as such. If you don't like it, too bad. Change your diaper that's all I have to say about it.
Hi, I'm Matty Iannielli. And I will build the Long Island Sound Crossing as well as the Oyster Bay Rye Bridge (NY 135/I-287), the Northport Norwalk Bridge (NY 231/US 7), the Shoreham New Haven Tunnel (Suffolk CR 46/I-91), and the Orient Point Watch Hill Bridge (I-495 to Rhode Island) when I finish college so that I can make Long Island Great Again! That's why I was born! Love, Matty Iannielli. 💕🙂☮️
Never going to get that Oyster Bay Bridge built untillyou get all the wealthy people out of there (not going to happen). No one wants more of queens on the island. Quite the opposite actually
An amazing clip. Moses, at 88, five years after The Power Broker, does not even see the need to apologize or repent. What a character. Although I have to assume not mentioning Caro (or Jane Jacobs for that matter) was his condition for the interview. An honest assessment of his legacy awaits. Hilary Ballon's exhibition and book offer a practical counter narrative to Caro's monumental hit job, but it would be great to see a speculative counterfactual history of NYC without Moses. It is easy to love Jones Beach and the swimming pools, and to hate the neglect of the subway system, not to mention the obviously race and class bias, but what would NYC be like without the Cross Bronx Expressway or the Verrazano Bridge? what would a less-competent administrator have achieved?
Without Moses it's likely NYC would have a sub-standard highway and parks system to match their sub-standard mass transit system. Moses just decided he liked the former two better and did something about it. His critics deride him for not using his influence to effectuate better mass transit for the city, and it's difficult to not interpret those criticisms as hollow. No one else ever mustered the political willpower to effectuate change in the mass transit system either. Why should Moses take all the blame for that?
You can criticize Moses for building highways when subways were needed and that's entirely fair. But after he was ousted and they stopped building highways, did they start building subways?
Not saying there's a connection to Moses being gone, but cleanup and investment in the subways did increase in the 1980s. Graffiti started to disappear, fleets of new cars were ordered, an extension opened to Roosevelt Island in 1989 and work on the 2nd Subway resumed at the turn of the 21st century.
@@andrewtorres765 I remember Reagan coming to Kennedy Airport, and giving Ed Koch a big check. The city got federal money to clean up and improve the subways.
2:21 Uh, gonna say something about the coat Robt Anson is wearing: Good God man!! Who told you that looked good? By the way, Bob Caro, author of the Moses biobook The Power Broker, said that, for RM, the probing question was anathema. He hated that kind of journalistic inquiry. So, the fact Anson is pitching these questions says much about how probing this interview is.
Very interesting. It would have been easy for the interviewer to be super-critical in 1977 (3 years after "The Power Broker"). But he seems to be gently pushing Moses to explain himself for the history books. Really appreciate that approach! More info here on the interviewer -> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sam_Anson
Great interview by the late Robert Sam Anson. As for Moses, imo, he was a mixed bag. Nobody should ever have had that much power over a world-class city. And, he should have retired at least a decade before he was (in effect) fired by Rockefeller. But, Moses was smart, capable and meant well.
Moses was a hero. He is so right that the Sound Bridge from Oyster Bay to Rye has to be built. Still does. Would have alleviated billions of hours of delays in western Nassau and eastern Queens Counties. Moses wasn't right on everything, though. More investment in public transportation would also have alleviated traffic. Those in power today, in 2024, are zealots, against automobiles and are making it impossible to navigate NYC. This will exacerbate the doom loop the city is in.
Brilliant bigot , who had contempt for poor people especially of color, so much so he builds the crossways and expressways low enough so as to not permit Public Transportation Buses to "clear" the ramps, so colored or poor people wouldn't travel to his beloved Jones Beach. "I know they don't own automobiles, and I'm afraid they'd get the idea of taking public transportation to get here...so bring down the ramps to 9' " (PT Buses were 14' at the time). Not to mention the immense pollution and poor air quality/index that still linger to this day because of a few of his projects.
Wait, you mean to say that since Moses' death, he has been united with his true Father, and his true Master, Satan, and that-to Moses' surprised horror-Satan has been viciously raping and torturing Moses ever since, and will continue doing so for all eternity? Say it ain't so!
had the built a bridge over LI sound, there would be less traffic on The Bronx expressway, would have been better for The Bronx, less traffic to Queens. Now LI trucks, cars come into Queens to get to Westchester or New England.
Robert Moses was the perfect target at the time of Robert Caro's book. He was still alive, but old and out of power. The Power Broker came out around the time of the NYC financial crisis of the 1970s when the public was looking for villains.
You can’t take away the fact that Robert Moses was a genius who did many extraordinary things but he also was a villain who robbed people of their constitutional rights and destroyed lives because of his immense propensity to obtain & wield power. It can be the 1970s or it can be current day 2021, the Power Broker, Robert Moses and the Fall of New York is a timeless, present day masterpiece
'he battled everyone...and won.....the rich of Long Island.....' not entirely true, at least not in the early years.....Otto Kahn and others won that battle, I believe......
Critics of Moses will tell you he only battled minorities smh I'm glad you p pointed this out because if anything Moses was a classist, he was brutal and rough in pushing his projects through but I don't for one second Moses purposefully went after minority's instead of whites, he went through plenty of Jewish, Italian, Greek, Armenian etc neighborhoods to build his projects.
@@HayastAnFedayi Don't forget his manipulation of the Irish as well. Every self-respecting New York diaspora community eventually builds up some sort of unaccountable power structure, and eventually shapes the city in their image. You had the European diasporas come over first and set their own structures up, now you're seeing the asian influence take hold. I just wish America wasn't a place for folks to settle their racial grievances. Or maybe that's just what needs to happen from time to time.
Has it ever been an advantage to own a private automobile as a resident of New York City? I have never been to NYC but I know it's not worth it in San Francisco (a city of similar population density).
@@keepcalmcarryon3358 NYC has the highest population density in the USA at 27K people per square mile. SF has the second highest at 17K per square mile. I guess you didn't know that.
While Moses accomplished a lot and was a pioneer in creating NYC, and its surrounding suburbs as we know it, you can't forget that he abused his power for over 40 years and was extremely racist. He was known to blackmail politicians and create his own rules, intentionally building the parkways of Long Island so only those who could afford cars (outlawed buses to travel on the parkways) would be able to enjoy Jones beach . he schemed NY state out of millions. he could have used his power and intelligence to benefit everyone but instead evicted hundreds of thousands of innocent people and spent $27B in his career that will cost billions more to maintain.
If you haven't read 'The Power Broker', do yourself a favor and read it. Robert Moses lived such a consequential life and accumulated power in such a way, it was eye popping. I just finished the book and found this clip. It was great to see and hear Robert Moses in this video. Even at 88 years old, you can sense that he was a true force of nature he was in his career. Seeing his hostility (still) towards the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the subway system fits right in line with what you read in the book.
just finished the book myself, it was eye popping indeed!
Hello Brad,
Where may I obtain this book as it is a must read for me. I tried to download a free pdf version of this book with no luck.
@@c.s.d6961 Amazon, 8 bucks used.
Absolutely true. Reading it now.
@@c.s.d6961 I was able to get a copy from my local library
If this video does anything, it shows how much of an amazing biographer Robert Caro is.
This has nothing to do with him
@@mikejones741 think long and hard, and you can figure out why he said that
Robert Moses was a great man, just like my father. Only one like him will come every 100 years. New York was very liky.
@@shukrimoe2814 RM was garbage that ruined this city. Fuck him.
after reading "the power broker" back in 2005 always wanted to know more about Robert Moses, got to say that he wasn't the hero we wanted, but; he was the hero we needed hehehehe
Holy Wow! What an incredible video! So glad it’s here. I’m almost done reading ‘The Power Broker’. What an incredible book. I can see why it’s a Pulitzer Prize winner. Can you imagine the research it took to compile this massive book? 17:04 He’s talking about the displaced people on one of his projects. He doesn’t give a damn at all, he was so driven by his need to build on a grand scale, that he had no use for human beings. His ability to secure funding for any of his projects was absolutely incredible! 24:16 He secured his funding by his ‘Unalterable bond covenants’, Even though the numbers were hard to follow, that was one of the parts of the book I found truly fascinating. The pictures really do tell a thousand words. How his mind thought on such a massive scale - can be seen by any of the pictures in the book and on the internet. What a full life this guy lived, such a mad genius with his flaws and all. Thank you for posting this gem.
I JUST finished 'The Power Broker' and this video is amazing. He has absolute contempt for anyone that stands in his way (and keep in mind, this interview was shot nearly 10 years after he was finally driven from power. Can you imagine what he was like when he still had power??)
Did you learn anything in the book that you yourself have put into practice in your own life?
@@GG-zl3etIm interested in the kinds of answers you may gotten to this question from other people. Did you change anything after reading it?
He killed the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, razed entire neighborhoods, leveled historic buildings, and threw thousands into homelessness, and was entirely unaccountable.Not a hero!
I am not a Moses fan, but the notion that he put people into homelessness is hyperbole. If anything, he kept NY affordable and was involved in several of the city's most significant public housing projects and middle-income housing complexes.
....and if he didn't build all the roads and highways the traffic would be worse than it is now and you'd be crying louder than you are now
@@kevsta67 No it wouldn't lol. If he didn't build the highways people wouldn't be as likely to drive into the city. He induced more car traffic by making it easier to get into the city in a car.
@@fuchsiaswing8545it’s not hyperbole .
@@ekayaniperformsThe 9/29/24 podcast episode of Consider This indicated 500K were displaced without compensation of any kind, contrary to Moses’ claim.
great find Mr Stone.....i just finished the "Power Broker" for the 3rd time.....i still feel like i want more every time i finish it.....when the interviewer said"there's a lot of protest/resistance now to big projects.......thats something you never contended with". .....i almost died.....there's been protests all the way from Jones Beach to the Verrazzano bridge....but he considered these critics a small nuisance......the comments below summed it up perfectly.....Caro's descriptions of all the mannerisms and gestures and arrogance were so spot on....even in this interview ....when he smacks that giant hand down on that desk i could just see him at 45 years old intimidating everybody....especially his muchachos......that question cracked me up
The Power Broker is that good eh? Time for me to get my hands on a copy.
Should be in every hotel/motel room right next to the Bible,!"
Prof. I. Ver Mectin
Ps. Mr. Ed says "H E L L O "( don't forget my apple flavored jelly).
Did he make life happier for the people living in NY City? Or did he just make it easier for them to drive far away?
Wow what a gem of a find! After reading “the power broker” I was looking for anything Moses related on TH-cam never saw this in any form…
Same here, after reading "the power broker" back in 2005 always wanted to know more about Robert Moses, got to say that he wasn't the hero we wanted, but; he was the hero we needed hehehehe
It's almost like I'm watching someone I know. The fact that he called Al Smith "governor" and his objection to the public hearings are just two things where I had to smile. Caro really does a fantastic job at getting these details across.
🚬👴🏻🥃A BOB MOSE WAS A MOB BOSS
The way he steamrolls the interviewed interjection and then refers to another man as arrogant in the same breath is insane. The fact that I had no surprise is an incredible testament to Robert Caro.
Thanks so much for posting this, its a great interview of Moses.
Watched this right after finishing the Power Broker. Thanks for sharing!
Same here!
@@stephensoldnersaaaame lol
30:56 Wow! This interview is crazy. He’s talking about how he became a ‘one man job’, in charge of: The Tunnel Authority, Parks Commission & Bridge Authority & more. This was how he gained so much power in New York. page 633 ‘The Power Broker’.
He gained individual power because some very powerful factions, both visible and invisible, wanted one individual to have the power to execute what they wanted, with non-democratic efficiency.
@@Frip36bingo, you nailed it!
I just finished the Power Broker, this is fascinating to watch! Just completely amazing!
Boy he was giving that chair a damn good ride !! 😵
So true, I was think the same thing.
Yes, it's interesting to see that a man that was almost 90 had restless energy!
Robert Caro wrote that he was always incapable of standing still.
I'm watching this after having just finished Caro's "The Best Bill Drafter in Albany" - where Moses pulls that Michael-Corleone-at-the-end-of-part-1 mass grab for power through the bill establishing the responsibilities of the new state parks council - and it's actually perfect timing. Caro ends the chapter with something along the lines of: "As soon as Moses got power, he made it clear how he was going to use it." I was going to wait until I'd finished the book before watching this, but getting it as sort of a forward-looking intermission is really fascinating. Thanks for uploading it!
That was also a key moment for me - reading about how Moses inserted elements into the bills he drafted that he could then access to his benefit many years later.
Great upload, thank you. Gives an idea of what he would have been like when Caro interviewed him. He really couldn't keep still
"Leave no authority existing not responsible to the people." -- Thomas Jefferson
Very sad how this has been ignored/defied.
@@onion6foot Face it; that sentiment can be defined any way you want to define it, to serve your own purposes.
Monster upload! Thanks!
Unbelievable what he got done, what he got away with and what was fortunately prevented. His disdain for people in general and people opposing him in particular is fascinating, even today. His obsession with cars, roads and bridges was unbelievable.
This brilliant but pathologically narcissistic man hurt tens of thousands unnecessarily. His methods were underhanded, illegal, and immoral.
Brilliant Video. Thank You Daniel Stone.
In a peculiar fashion, “The Power Broker”- this magnum opus of a nonfiction is never in any manner less than a fiction. What Mr. Caro does to the characters and events in this book can ever be surpassed in the quality of prose by none but a countable few. The book speaks on the various manifestations of the character of a power wielding human being which have a profound impact on the lives of millions of lesser endowed people in a political setup. The personality of Robert Moses as portrayed in the book will leave the reader with mixed feelings of love and hate for the man who reshaped the way the greatest city in the world looks at present while at the same time trampling the ordinary man under his Commissionership’s powerful juggernaut. Moses grossly violated human rights of thousands of poor people of New York for his great projects but could those monumental works ever have been done without such unstoppable force? Could the works of such magnitude be done with the same kind of administrative Fiat in the modern times? The reader may be left to answer those questions for himself.
On 27th October, 2015, Robert A. Caro made a rare appearance onstage at London in a talk moderated by William Hague. In his talk Mr. Caro talked about all the dynamics of power working in civilised democratic societies. Mr. William Hague was very much correct in suggesting the publishers to publish the original work on Robert Moses comprising about 1 mn 50 k words. Readers of the works of Mr. Caro must join together their voices for publication of the original and uncut version of "The Power Broker" as a collector's edition. At least now, the publishers can rest assured of the commercial success of the original unabridged book. It's my earnest request. Mr. Hague may certainly chose to lead our voices.
Power Broker is a towering achievement...but the publisher cut Janet Jacobs out for length ,,, i couldn't believe it at first. that was arguably Moses downfall. Why not publish an extended version? The book is a classic of non-fiction. Why? there must be a reason
Thx Daniel for sharing.. I will use for my students in teaching urban design course.
He's the best thing that happened to NYC. Imagine today not having those highways and bridges.
NY would be a much better place without the highways through it.
Just finished the Power Broker (the audiobook version, in fact) and it’s incredible finally seeing and hearing Moses in action. A young man in an old man’s body. He never stops moving.
Thank you for uploading this
"if you had a limited political power and unlimited funds how would you rebuild New York?"
"...Well of course nobody ever has unlimited funds"
Telling, isn't it.
Was that the quote?
@@Adam-ui3ot I paraphrased slightly by removing the gaps. But yes that's the jist of it.
According to Robert Caro, Moses truly was never in it for the money. It was all about imposing his megalomaniacal vision onto society.
@@Prof_Tickles92 whether that's true it not he sure didn't hurt society any
I finished the book a couple weeks ago. It took me about 2 months to read. It is an incredible book with so much detail. This video is a great compliment to the book.
37:49 the way he says that they planned to build the verazzano and they built in just shows his animosity towards those that tried to stand in his way.
If you took the bridge or many of the other works projects that is Moses's legacy can you imagine life without them? We should be lucky he pushed these things through.
Host is a cool guy. Shout out to him. Via Wiki: " (March 12, 1945 - November 2, 2020) was an American journalist and author. He was noted for his work as a contributing editor to for over 20 years. He also wrote for other American magazines such as , , and . He authored six nonfiction books, including , about Jann Wenner and his magazine."
Robert Sam Anson the host way ahead of his time as an interviewer. Similar to Charlie Rose in a way. He really got Moses to open up and even smile. Super job, Mr. Anson.
Just finished reading the Power Broker today! What a great book and what a great interview. The old boy still had it at 89!!!
Interesting that he had nothing bad to say about Rockefeller considering he's the one who all but tricked him to go along with the MTA merger and conspired with his brothers bank regarding breaking Triborough's bond covenants.
Loved the 2nd/3rd rate men in 1st rate jobs haha!!
Brothers beneath the skin?
Good stuff. Thanks for posting!
"It also offers a definitive argument against rolling chairs." I've read Caro's book twice but have actually never seen video of Moses. I see here an amazing continuity between his train of thought and the spinning, rolling chair he is occupying. It is kind of mesmerizing.
Control is power. Fascinating interview.
This is absolutely wild
Perfectly put
"has it all been fun for you?" "Oh it has been, sure..." lolwut
A brilliant racist that made him incredibly wealthy and imposed economic hardship for millions of black and Puerto Rican citizens by destroying their neighborhoods and businesses and relegating them to communities of redlined unappreciating real estate that inhibited generational wealth building. These redlined communities he designed for them would never be able to build businesses owned by the people who lived there because they were restricted from acquiring bank loans, and the low valued homes could not contribute to adequate infrastructure and education
Through property taxes. With certainty, the majority of you who wrote these glowing comments were not impacted by his actions. Clearly he was brilliant, but so was Jefferson who owned 600 human beings, which he worked to death, never paid, and fathered children by a 14-year-old girl who was his sex slave - 💯facts!
The contempt with which he talks about the “Puerto Rican Slum” at Lincoln Center. Chilling
@@hunahpuyamamoto3964 the contempt in his voice is chilling. By all accounts, the neighborhoods Moses slated for destruction were thriving, if not low income. What made them “slums” in his mind was that they were largely non-white.
@@hunahpuyamamoto3964 I’ve read the book. Yes, Moses would bulldoze anything and anyone that stood in the way of his projects. BUT, looking at his projects in NYC, the overwhelming majority of people who were displaced by his projects were poor and non-white.
@@hunahpuyamamoto3964 it’s hardly controversial to say that Moses was openly racist and his projects were a net negative for poor, minority communities in New York. I don’t understand why you are so eager to defend him
"Slums were easy targets for him." Yeah, the man sounds like a real hero! FOH Yamamoto!!!
My college class in Public Administration read the Power Broker in 1978... I decided to write Robert Moses a fan letter, and he wrote me back a personal signed letter thanking me... I still have it, even the envelope, and he sent an 8 x 10 photo too.
Does it mention the power broker? Can you email me a photo of it?
Yeah, I'd love to see what he sent back too!
Dr. Moses was not above small acts of kindness. His befriending of young David Oats who trespassed on the 1964 World’s Fair construction led to a lifelong friendship between the two. Such an enigmatic man, Moses, and still fascinating to this day.
Dr. Moses had mellowed a lot by this point in his life. "how about we get a drink and somethin' to eat" Lol!
Along with the tragic death of his (only) grandson in an automobile accident several years before his downfall, being abruptly removed from public influence seemed to bring Robert Moses a humbling dose of humility, tempering somewhat his mercurial ambitions and teaching him that, no matter how hard he tried, there was no escaping the awful curse of immortality. I dread to think how much worse of a tyrant Moses would've become in advanced age if Gov. Rockefeller hadn't had the political backing to depose the old man in '68. It is doubtful he would've gone so quietly if this coup had been done ten - let alone twenty - years earlier when he was at the peak of his power.
@@Ryan-on5on well said!
You can see it all in this interview; his greatness and his pettiness - saying things that should be beneath him. Without the rancor, would he have achieved so much? Probably not. [The interviewer should have told him his obligation was to the citizens of NYC, not auto-workers in Detroit.]
If you push too hard on a guy like Moses, he will clam up. You've got to handle him with a bit of a grin.
@@Frip36 Would he cuss you out in a very NASTY way if you asked him something he didn't like?
I grew up with a tyrant....( Dr. Jeckyl/Mr. Hyde)
Fascinating interview. Yes he was quite the character and a bit arrogant and power hungry. I can see why he’s easy to dislike and may seem like a jerk but he sure spoke his mind lol. But the man was a genius and got a lot done. His longevity and accomplishments speak for themselves. A flawed human being he let power get the better of him and that will deservedly taint his legacy.
I've read, ' The Power Broker '.
Saying Moses was, ' a bit arrogant and power hungry. ', is like saying that the Pacific ocean is, ' a bit wet '!
If Moses could part the Red Sea why wouldn't Robert part the Bronx... with his Cross Bronx Expressway?
wow. 88 and that sharp? i cant even imagine what he was like in his 30s
I belive in the Power Broker, it was mentioned he was 2nd in his class at Yale, but only because he read too many books outside of his normal studies
I think America needs a Robert Moses for buses and rail or at least one to take on NIMBYs
Yes, but one with less haughty contempt for the masses and not desirous of the kind of imperial power only known by Roman Ceasars, please!
15:35 "Clinton-what used to be Hell's Kitchen"... now there's a rebranding that didn't stick.
LoL
You can't talk about the history of New York without talking about Robert Moses. The guy was absolutely brilliant, probably a genius, but brutal. He had these plans and no one was going to stand in his way. Sometimes he got thwarted and sometimes he got his vision through. Made a lot of enemies along the way, but he certainly left an incredible mark.
Certainly he wasn’t brilliant. A brilliant man would have understood that relying on car traffic in a dense urban area is impossible out of simple physics, it needs way to much space compared to public transport. I would rather say he was a highly intelligent psychopath.
@@hanswurstmaxdurst4039 All of the best highway especially freeway builders realized that trying to go right through cities instead of around them in a position that prioritized the needs of travel and commerce not commuting was nothing but a problem to be avoided at all costs. Our best freeway system was built in the middle of nowhere over the mountains to have a road that's basically an autobahn clone that be driven fast in summer where every vehicle from a 2 trailer semi down can pass freely and spread out to the needs of their load and their drivers skill level and everyone can keep going without obstructing anyone else or slowing down for anyone else and it actually works as advertised because it was built to connect actual far flung places that will never physically be able to sprawl into eachother as a 200km long megaopolis because of geography.
Automobile especially trucks of all sizes will always be one of the greatest inventions to me still. Urban people's bad experience with them are valid because the whole situation of cars and cities now is a terrible misuse of a tool but it doesnt take away from all of the things across the vast land that wouldnt be possible without it. Also mass ownership of automobiles in cities led to more automobiles being manufactured as status symbols that dont work as well when you need to actually use them as tools.
Urban freeway planners like Moses turned their cities into massive speed bumps of gridlock. Chokepoints on a cross continental high speed highway system. I dont understand cities very much but it's obvious that cities and freeways are technologies that cant occupy the same space. Short distance low speed stop and go travel is also the most fuel inefficient thing you can do with a full size automobile built to go fast over long distances so without the overuse of cars in city gridlock there would probably still be 50 cent gas. Cars and trucks get choked up too from driving like that their entire lives.
It's a bit of Column A, bit of Column B isn't it? Moses was brilliant in many respects, especially in matters of planning, organizing, delegating, law and beurocracy. But he was also classist, racist, megalomaniacal, and above all else intensely arrogant. Arrogant to the point where, in his mad fit of ripping apart New York City, he failed to consider the input of others and even laughed in their faces. At the height of his power, Moses wouldn't listen to anyone, least of all his underlings, his architects and engineers.
It is fair to call Moses Brilliant, because he was. It is also fair to call him a bastard, for a great many reasons.
even at that age he can't stop moving
Amazing find.
Good interview Great job PBS
Good clip. Ty
Thank you for sharing.
Great footage.
We need the sound crossing !
Hi, I'm Matty Iannielli. And I will build the Long Island Sound Crossing as well as the Oyster Bay Rye Bridge (NY 135/I-287), the Northport Norwalk Bridge (NY 231/US 7), the Shoreham New Haven Tunnel (Suffolk CR 46/I-91), and the Orient Point Watch Hill Bridge (I-495 to Rhode Island) when I finish college so that I can make Long Island Great Again! That's why I was born! Love, Matty Iannielli. 💕🙂☮️
37:50 absolutely dripping with contempt.
Dripping with contempt? I don't see that at all. Where do you see it? He's simply calmly describing what he remembers happened
@@johnblake4523 his facial expression, the tone of voice. Lots of feeling there beyond the simple facts.
This interview is fantastic. Bob's not holding back. He's brilliant.
I think he always wanted flushing meadows named after him.
What I find most fascinating about RM is that he was an unstoppable madman on a mission. The same (necessary) qualities in him that got everything done incorrectly were still _exactly_ the qualities needed to actually get anything done at all. The man who most achieves is also the man most hated.
We can at least say he would have never allowed New York to become what DeBlasio, Cuomo and AOC allowed it to be. He would have put them right where they belonged. It took a freaking Rockefeller to dethrone this man, and unlike Caesar or Napoleon, he was busy long after his fall.
Just an amazing case study of a human being and we can all at least learn from his better qualities.
Robert Moses wasn’t into pedestrian friendly environments…
Caro certainly captured his fashion sense. That's uh... quite the shirt.
With a paisley tie, no less. The rare marriage of flannel and paisley.
Give the guys a pass, it was the 70s lol
@@TheCanningiteno no, they have a point. Moses was frequently described as a man who didn't care much for fashion or keeping a well-kempt appearance. A fact that remained true, it seems, into his old age.
Guy likes to move around in his chair, the bastard won`t sit still!
I have a lot of respect for anyone who gets things done. He got things done. This is a great interview. Thanks for making it available here..
I wish he could have a conversation with AOC.
Just visualize the throne room scenes in Return of the Jedi.
The little Mexican girl? Why what would be interesting about that? She hasn't accomplished anything
@@Dawn24Michele Mexican? Um...she was born in the Bronx and is of Puerto Rican decent.
@@ericroy5188 stop tripping over yourselves to be offended. Life must be pretty amazing that so many have it so good that their day is spent seeking our offense and getting into others business. Thanks for admitting you have such a nice life.
Again, she hasn't accounted anything. When she refers to herself as AMERICAN then I'll refer to her as American. She herself claims to be a statistic so I'll refer to her as such. If you don't like it, too bad. Change your diaper that's all I have to say about it.
Nice try. She is a US citizen. 😀
Great uploAd
23:10 villainous ass moment
Caro was spot on in describing him, he is so arrogant
When you've accomplished as much for prosperity as he did you get to be arrogant. When you're right it isn't arrogance. It's truth.
@@Dawn24Michele He had some points, and it is true he would not have gotten as much done if he was not a dick, but he is arrogant nonetheless.
allsparkwars2 what did he say that was arrogant??
@@peoplespeace Look at the way he talks about the mid manhattan expressway.
he had a lot to be arrogant about
Hi, I'm Matty Iannielli. And I will build the Long Island Sound Crossing as well as the Oyster Bay Rye Bridge (NY 135/I-287), the Northport Norwalk Bridge (NY 231/US 7), the Shoreham New Haven Tunnel (Suffolk CR 46/I-91), and the Orient Point Watch Hill Bridge (I-495 to Rhode Island) when I finish college so that I can make Long Island Great Again! That's why I was born! Love, Matty Iannielli. 💕🙂☮️
Never going to get that Oyster Bay Bridge built untillyou get all the wealthy people out of there (not going to happen). No one wants more of queens on the island. Quite the opposite actually
An amazing clip. Moses, at 88, five years after The Power Broker, does not even see the need to apologize or repent. What a character. Although I have to assume not mentioning Caro (or Jane Jacobs for that matter) was his condition for the interview.
An honest assessment of his legacy awaits. Hilary Ballon's exhibition and book offer a practical counter narrative to Caro's monumental hit job, but it would be great to see a speculative counterfactual history of NYC without Moses. It is easy to love Jones Beach and the swimming pools, and to hate the neglect of the subway system, not to mention the obviously race and class bias, but what would NYC be like without the Cross Bronx Expressway or the Verrazano Bridge? what would a less-competent administrator have achieved?
What is your basis for calling, ' The Power Broker ', ' Caro's monumental hit job '?
Without Moses it's likely NYC would have a sub-standard highway and parks system to match their sub-standard mass transit system. Moses just decided he liked the former two better and did something about it. His critics deride him for not using his influence to effectuate better mass transit for the city, and it's difficult to not interpret those criticisms as hollow. No one else ever mustered the political willpower to effectuate change in the mass transit system either. Why should Moses take all the blame for that?
Lol, monumental hit job... Aka, a comprehensive reporting of facts.
insane that they had this guy in a rocking, swivel chair
You can criticize Moses for building highways when subways were needed and that's entirely fair. But after he was ousted and they stopped building highways, did they start building subways?
The city was bankrupt. It couldn't build extra subways.
Not saying there's a connection to Moses being gone, but cleanup and investment in the subways did increase in the 1980s. Graffiti started to disappear, fleets of new cars were ordered, an extension opened to Roosevelt Island in 1989 and work on the 2nd Subway resumed at the turn of the 21st century.
@@andrewtorres765 I remember Reagan coming to Kennedy Airport, and giving Ed Koch a big check. The city got federal money to clean up and improve the subways.
No they didn't because it will forever be Moses fault no matter what and second in line to blame would be Trump...
2:21 Uh, gonna say something about the coat Robt Anson is wearing: Good God man!! Who told you that looked good? By the way, Bob Caro, author of the Moses biobook The Power Broker, said that, for RM, the probing question was anathema. He hated that kind of journalistic inquiry. So, the fact Anson is pitching these questions says much about how probing this interview is.
“I thought they were kind of a weird group. They were into the arts and other social causes…”. - that says everything.
I love Robert Moses and attended Fordham University at Lincoln Center he alluded to. We miss you Robert our nation turns its lonely hearts to you!
He destroyed more than you will ever know.
@@jesseeisen91 I guess you have never been to Jones Beach.
@@christophersansone2755 he was a disgusting racist, classist and xenophobe.
Very interesting. It would have been easy for the interviewer to be super-critical in 1977 (3 years after "The Power Broker"). But he seems to be gently pushing Moses to explain himself for the history books. Really appreciate that approach! More info here on the interviewer -> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sam_Anson
R.I.P Mr Kevin Samuels.
"There's *ALWAYS* people!" he says.
He said, “Are we doing this for your friend on 30th Street?”😂😂
38:22 Robert Moses with a cell phone on his desk lol. It would explain a lot if he was a time traveler.
That's an eyeglass case.
Goddamnit, Debra!
25:39 "Little guy from Missouri, was a haberdasher."
Great interview by the late Robert Sam Anson. As for Moses, imo, he was a mixed bag. Nobody should ever have had that much power over a world-class city. And, he should have retired at least a decade before he was (in effect) fired by Rockefeller. But, Moses was smart, capable and meant well.
Caro’s book is a masterpiece
Would make a great Scrooge and or Mr Potter from its wonderful life
Moses was a hero. He is so right that the Sound Bridge from Oyster Bay to Rye has to be built. Still does. Would have alleviated billions of hours of delays in western Nassau and eastern Queens Counties. Moses wasn't right on everything, though. More investment in public transportation would also have alleviated traffic. Those in power today, in 2024, are zealots, against automobiles and are making it impossible to navigate NYC. This will exacerbate the doom loop the city is in.
Brilliant bigot , who had contempt for poor people especially of color, so much so he builds the crossways and expressways low enough so as to not permit Public Transportation Buses to "clear" the ramps, so colored or poor people wouldn't travel to his beloved Jones Beach. "I know they don't own automobiles, and I'm afraid they'd get the idea of taking public transportation to get here...so bring down the ramps to 9' " (PT Buses were 14' at the time). Not to mention the immense pollution and poor air quality/index that still linger to this day because of a few of his projects.
Hindsight’s a wonderful thing isn’t it
"you gotta have your stealth if your going to do these jobs" LMFAOO man got destroyed
How many stones are on his man s head stone?
Moses is clear example of an intellectual and that isn't a compliment.
What this doc shows that true power rest in the hands of the few and the masses are left out in the cold . M
Watch the movie " Motherless Brooklyn "
Robert Moses, never learned to drive.
That is incredible !
Look at the interview again
Actually, he drove a lot of people crazy!
This was a very very very evil man now hell is his home, also it will be well deserved to call him a demon
Wait, you mean to say that since Moses' death, he has been united with his true Father, and his true Master, Satan, and that-to Moses' surprised horror-Satan has been viciously raping and torturing Moses ever since, and will continue doing so for all eternity? Say it ain't so!
How many construction worker's? Civil engineers? Land developers? Are in here
had the built a bridge over LI sound, there would be less traffic on The Bronx expressway, would have been better for The Bronx, less traffic to Queens. Now LI trucks, cars come into Queens to get to Westchester or New England.
Did he ask about Caro's book?
Did u watch the video ?
Answer the fucking question!
Robert Moses was the perfect target at the time of Robert Caro's book. He was still alive, but old and out of power. The Power Broker came out around the time of the NYC financial crisis of the 1970s when the public was looking for villains.
You can’t take away the fact that Robert Moses was a genius who did many extraordinary things but he also was a villain who robbed people of their constitutional rights and destroyed lives because of his immense propensity to obtain & wield power.
It can be the 1970s or it can be current day 2021, the Power Broker, Robert Moses and the Fall of New York is a timeless, present day masterpiece
'he battled everyone...and won.....the rich of Long Island.....' not entirely true, at least not in the early years.....Otto Kahn and others won that battle, I believe......
Critics of Moses will tell you he only battled minorities smh I'm glad you p pointed this out because if anything Moses was a classist, he was brutal and rough in pushing his projects through but I don't for one second Moses purposefully went after minority's instead of whites, he went through plenty of Jewish, Italian, Greek, Armenian etc neighborhoods to build his projects.
@@HayastAnFedayi Don't forget his manipulation of the Irish as well. Every self-respecting New York diaspora community eventually builds up some sort of unaccountable power structure, and eventually shapes the city in their image. You had the European diasporas come over first and set their own structures up, now you're seeing the asian influence take hold. I just wish America wasn't a place for folks to settle their racial grievances. Or maybe that's just what needs to happen from time to time.
44:00 who did he grease ?
Has it ever been an advantage to own a private automobile as a resident of New York City? I have never been to NYC but I know it's not worth it in San Francisco (a city of similar population density).
@Stephen Amy
Similar density? Not so much. Not even remotely close
@@keepcalmcarryon3358 NYC has the highest population density in the USA at 27K people per square mile. SF has the second highest at 17K per square mile. I guess you didn't know that.
@Stephen Amy
I guess you don’t consider 1/3
(10,000ppl) to be a large difference when referring to population density
@@keepcalmcarryon3358 I would say the two are at least remotely close
Came here after reading power broker... boss shit right here... (17:00 🤔🤣)
So THIS is the villain of Dimension 20: Unsleeping City, huh?
33:45 Moses calling a kettle black.
this made me laugh
Great history.
Love him or hate him this guy got things done. He was a doer. NYC has a great debt to his legacy. RIP Bob.
While Moses accomplished a lot and was a pioneer in creating NYC, and its surrounding suburbs as we know it, you can't forget that he abused his power for over 40 years and was extremely racist. He was known to blackmail politicians and create his own rules, intentionally building the parkways of Long Island so only those who could afford cars (outlawed buses to travel on the parkways) would be able to enjoy Jones beach . he schemed NY state out of millions. he could have used his power and intelligence to benefit everyone but instead evicted hundreds of thousands of innocent people and spent $27B in his career that will cost billions more to maintain.
Deeols Joajksks you’re disgusting for saying something so horrible. You racist xenophobic piece of shit.
"getting things done" means nothing. If you are very efficient at doing a bad thing, you should not be doing it.
@@jamiekreinces8279 he's saying why OP's sentiment is wrong
He was a great man for his times!