The Master Builder

Not too many people may be familiar with Robert Moses, other than the shore point that was named after him. Robert Moses was born in December of 1888, in New Haven, Connecticut, and died in July of 1981, in West Islip, NY. He died 5 months before his 92 birthday. In the mid-20th century Robert was the master builder of NYC, Long Island, and Westchester County. He was instrumental in changing shorelines, built bridges, built tunnels, and roadways.

Robert Moses believed strongly in driving a car over taking public transportation. He rarely rode the public transportation system. His belief in car travel helped to create many highways in the suburbs of Long Island. Robert Moses saw how the Great Depression demoralized the city, so he wanted to turn things around. He helped in the construction of two huge World Fairs: one in 1939 and the other in 1964. Robert Moses was also responsible for having the United Nations' headquarters to be built in NYC.

Just as Robert had a vision for NYC that help make it what it is today, many of his decisions also hurt the city. Robert Moses believed strongly that a city was meant to have highways for cars, not public transportation. He was actually against the formation of the subway system, and nearly had it stopped. But the mayor overturned him and let the subway system get built and we are glad he did.

Robert Moses helped to ruin the South Bronx and parts of Coney Island. He forced the Brooklyn Dodgers out of New York along with The New York Giants. It is because of his dream to have car travel in the city, he displaced hundreds of thousands of people, just so he could build his highways.

The question is, what price did he pay for his dream to have highway for cars, instead of having places for people to live.