NYC’s Power Broker
Robert Moses was the ultimate political insider yet he never ran for public office. He shaped what today is New York City and his visionary insights into transportation created sprawling bridges and tunnels that are still in use today.
The Power Broker traces Moses’s life and rise to power. Written in 1974, it details the life and times of one of New York’s most influential city planners who was responsible for building its bridges, tunnels and parks.
If you live in New York you can’t help but notice all of his accomplishments. New York City is connected by a myriad of bridges and tunnels. Robert Moses was the man responsible for creating most of it. His projects are engineering masterpieces and symbolic of New York’s power.
Yet,t Moses’s vision also created unintended consequences. Things he could not have imagined would ever happen when he planned the city ninety years ago.
Today, traveling in and around the tri-state area (NY-PA-NJ) is a nightmare. A thirty mile drive can take two or more hours. Leaving or entering the city at times can take hours and is expensive. The many tolls that blanket the city’s entrances run over $15.00, causing real pain for many people forced to pay this as part of their daily commute.
Moses’s vision was centered around the automobile and less on public transportation. So much so that the city is now engulfed by traffic and an inadequate public transportation system.
Yes the city boasts massive subway, bus and rail systems but they are run down, old and dirty. They are forever breaking down and it simply an unpleasant way to get around. Add to this fact that the subway system can be dangerous it begs the question, “What went wrong?”
Although Moses laid out a grandiose vision for New York, the book left me wondering if the city might have turned out better without his input. In order to fulfill his vision, Moses used the courts and the legislature to appropriate peoples’ lands. He stole peoples’ homes, foreclosed on others and used his power to drive them off of their properties. He needed those properties to place his bridges and tunnels. He didn’t ask for their consent. He just took what he wanted.
At first, there was staunch opposition to his plan as it was illegal. The politicians stopped him at every turn. They knew they had a duty to uphold the Constitution and protect individual property rights. But once Moses showed his political brethren “the light” on how much power they could acquire by withdrawing their opposition to private property confiscation they readily acquiesced.
Those who had previously opposed Moses’s plan, like the unions, began to salivate when they saw the size of the government contracts he was ready to put out for bid. More contracts meant more union jobs. This would make them rich and keep them in power for decades.
But at what cost?
Peoples’ rights and properties were infringed upon and assets stolen simply because the government claimed it was for the common good. No alternative vision for the city was ever reviewed or even considered.
His plan was really an example of the law of unintended consequences which, paraphrased, states that actions of people, and especially of government, always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. Moses’s vision forced out any option that could have shaped the city in different and beneficial ways.
The law of unintended consequences is at always at work and exists everywhere. In economic circles, it is heavily debated and discussed. Economists understand its reality while politicians, and even popular opinion, almost always ignored it. To ignore it is to so do at one’s peril.
For example during devastating hurricanes, the price of plywood and water tend to shoot up. Suppliers rush in to capture this profit then get slammed by the media for price gouging . The government comes in and caps the prices only to see these same suppliers leave as they are not not willing to sell at the government controlled price. Unintended consequence? More shortages.
Moses believed in building bridges and tunnels because he felt it would reduce traffic. Yet, the opposite occurred. His vision of a government controlled traffic system left the city with a woeful public transportation system nearly perpetually gridlocked with traffic. Unintended consequence? The outcome that Moses sought became worse due to his planning.
In reality, only a fraction of Moses’s vision was implemented. As he got older, communities pushed back and his power waned. Smaller neighborhoods pushed back and were successful at stopping many of his plans. Had the push back not occurred, New York City could have ended up as one giant highway, similar to Houston or Los Angeles.
Hindsight being what it is, most people no longer believe that cities are created by and for traffic. Cities have always been centered on the community, a place for help and connection when we need it. Had Moses known it too, he would have planned and built even more parks and public beaches and less highways.
The residents knew it was community not highways that define a city and, because of it, Moses was forced out. Sadly, in his quest for more and more highways, the things that matter for the well-being of people, like community and kinship, got pushed aside. The entirety of his vision was never realized and for that we are all better off.
Steve
Originally published at abovethefraypodcast.com on August 19, 2018.
