Robert Moses: The Man Who Built the Modern New York

[@Biographics]

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[@sparky6086]

The worst part of his legacy is, that he helped the UN!

[@aragos32727]

How did the Great Depression affect the rest of the world?

[@historyforlife1019]

Just like Simon I’m a history buff so the Great Depression went global because the stock market crashed in 1929 so the US started raising taxes on shipping and that is how the Great Depression went globally

[@aragos32727]

@@historyforlife1019 thank you for that. And I understand that as that's basic history and economics 101. I guess I need to be more specific with my question. How did it affect people in other countries might be a better way of asking.

[@jackjones3703]

Can we have a video on Jordan Belfort please

[@found_documents]

“...Caro said years later. It led him to think about Moses for the first time. "I got in the car and drove home to Long Island, and I kept thinking to myself: 'Everything you've been doing is baloney. You've been writing under the belief that power in a democracy comes from the ballot box. But here's a guy who has never been elected to anything, who has enough power to turn the entire state around, and you don't have the slightest idea how he got it.'"

[@aaronbonogofsky4463]

Robert Caro is one of my favorite writers.

[@quanbrooklynkid7776]

damn

[@ignitionfrn2223]

2:05 - Chapter 1 - A depressing city 3:50 - Chapter 2 - The Master builder 5:50 - Chapter 3 - The bridge to somewhere 7:55 - Mid roll ads 9:25 - Chapter 4 - Moses ascendant 12:45 - Chapter 5 - The coronation of the car 16:25 - Chapter 6 - Downfall 20:00 - Chapter 7 - Legacy

[@Wrz2e]

The deliberate neglect of public transport in favour of cars has been one of the most destructive trends in modern American cities.

[@goldenageofdinosaurs7192]

Yep. That & the 24 hr news cycle

[@Wrz2e]

@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 true!

[@drscopeify]

It's not neglected there is light rail always adding new stations, electric buses, dedicated lanes for buses and streetcars inside the city core here in Seattle so it is definitely not neglected. They have free garages at transit hubs in the suburbs and even inside the city so you can drive to it from your house and park for free for the day while you use buses or light rail and you pay with the same card for everything and it is pretty cheap. That said, almost everyone has a car and many have electric cars and it is usually less headache and cheaper to drive.

[@cathycasuccio3227]

@@drscopeify they’re talking NY, not washington state dear. can’t compare apples and oranges.

[@staringcorgi6475]

It’s because Moses hated the poor people like blacks, and puerto ricans

[@adamstevens5070]

The man did more to push the Dodgers out of Brooklyn than any single person...his refusal to let the Dodgers build their own stadium in Brooklyn when Ebbets Field didn't work anymore was the final nail in the coffin. Wanting to move the Brooklyn Dodgers to Queens was what Moses wanted...but no one else. He ruined one of the most unifying institutions in New York at the time.

[@kevinbergin9971]

The Dodgers wanted the land where the Barkley Center (Nets) is now. But it seems a little arrogant when Flushing has both a subway stop and an LIRR stop as well as plenty of room for parking and was a relatively safe neighborhood. Hey, the Mets have done fine out there. See my comments above for more.

[@anthonyperno1348]

Moses had good reason for wanting the Dodgers to play in Flushing. The new stadium (Shea) was to be part of the New York (Unofficial) World's Fair construction (to open in 1964). Flushing Queens was swamp land and the buying up of the land meant a considerably cheaper price than tearing down existing structures in Brooklyn. Also O'Malley wanted the mass transit system in Brooklyn upgraded, a project Mosses did have on the back burner, but only after a new system, that would run out to the World's Fair and Shea Stadium, was to be completed first, before the Brooklyn system was to be upgraded. (It was just a few years later.) RE LA: O'Malley started talking to a Congresswoman from the LA area (most believe as merely a threat to leverage Mosses) who kept sweetening the deal for O'Malley after each of Mosses rejections. They say what actually closed the deal with LA was that O'Malley would be a part owner/investor of a new (promised) Dodger Stadium. Thus, when O'Malley Dodger's paid their stadium rent, part of the proceeds went back into O'Malley pocket. Added to the dispute with Mosses, O'Malley was also running about with some new fangled plans for a domed stadium. (This stadium would become the Astrodome a few years later, and considering all the problems and failures the Astrodome suffered during construction in Houston, had it been built in Brooklyn seven years earlier it likely would have been a serious disaster.) Finally, what separates Brooklyn from Queens is merely a mental border, not a natural one. Miss the sign, and you won't know you left Brooklyn. Flushing was a reasonable compromise. It's not like Flushing even felt a part of Queens at that time. I don't particularly want to defend Mosses. He was a dick. But O'Malley demands, based on his timetable, were just not realistic.

[@MegaShinobi3]

As a native New Yorker I must correct mistake Simon made. The Dodgers were a baseball team, the Giants were a FOOTBALL team.

[@rawrsince718]

@@MegaShinobi3 you're wrong, the San Francisco Giants were originally a NY baseball team.

[@murdelabop]

Now that you've done Moses, do his nemesis, Jane Jacobs.

[@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944]

Yes! Please do Jane Jacobs. I'm a born and bred New Yorker, and I remember when Robert Moses's downfall began in the mid 60s, mainly due to Jane Jacobs.. She was FIERCE!

[@DS-uh6ss]

@@christopherstephenjenksbsg4944 "someone needs to tell this rich old man 'no.'" THAT'S RIGHT!

[@wmeemw994]

Christopher Stephen Jenks, BSG, for people who do not know, Robert Moses did much for the city & state highways, but he clearly manipulated his ‘eminent domain’ projects in acquiring lands to build the highways in/around NYC. He also built the ‘Parkways’ of NY City (‘Belt Parkway’) and Long Island (Northern, Southern, Sagtikos & Meadowbrook) for wealthy & elite but not for buses of the poor & low-income to get to Long Island beaches via his parkways (faster moving) to speed their presence on Long Island Beaches. He specifically built arched overpasses of intersecting roadways with limited height of archways (8’-9’) to lower clearance for buses needed (1o’-11’) to limit lower income people access to the NY state beaches & parks via parkways. He also gerrymandered LI Parkways to skirt along property lines of wealthy gilded estate holders (Aster, (Vanderbilt, Morgan & Rockefeller) owned by wealthy & powerful friends taking forty miles overall to travel just thirty miles from West to East.

[@chrisclarke619]

@PatchesRips I'm from Toronto wut dat mean

[@Elainerulesutube]

Never heard of him.

[@juliadagnall5816]

A biography on Al Smith would be interesting. He was a rare Tammany Hall man who wasn’t involved in corruption and actually cared about his constituents. I highly recommend reading The Power Broker. It’s not for the faint of heart (seriously, the book is massive) but it paints a vivid and engaging picture of Robert Moses, New York and how it changed with time, and of the neighborhoods that were destroyed by his monomania

[@SRosenberg203]

Yeah I'd be really interested to hear a Biographics on Al Smith too, he's a very fascinating figure from NY politics.

[@mechamoto6102]

Ordered The Power Broker after reading your comment. Just shy of 1400 pages is a great size book.

[@AC-ih7jc]

Bonus Fact(TM): The tenements that served as the backdrop for outdoor scenes in West Side Story were abandoned neighborhoods that were about to be demolished so that Robert Moses could build Lincoln Center. The residents had been given only 30 days to vacate, and filming was done in a hurry just ahead of the wrecking ball.

[@kevinbergin9971]

The film producers were told they could spray paint the building with graffiti, if they wanted, since they were going to be demolished.

[@jamestomvargas6471]

Went into an Urban Planning program. Learnt about Moses from Simon before the prof went over him. We also learnt about Jane Jacobs and the whole profession changed more or less thanks to her. She also saved old city hall in Toronto. Thanks Simon! Loved the vid.

[@teto85]

My uncle (RIP Billy) was from Brooklyn. He said that if he were ever in a room with Hitler, Stalin and Moses and had a gun but only two bullets, he would shoot Moses. twice.

[@mechamoto6102]

I remember hearing his name in this same statement but didn’t know who he was until recently. I’m a Michigander, great uncle was an iron worker in NYC in his younger years.

[@jfournerat1274]

Robert was actually in many ways no better than Hitler which is ironic since his parents were Jewish the very people that Hitler imfamously hated and imfamously targeted and killed millions of them during the holocaust. He segregated and mistreated African Americans which if you know your history is ironic because often throughout history such as during the medieval period and during the holocaust Jewish people were often segregated into ghettoes and were often subjected to constant violence just like how after slavery was abolished African Americans were segregated and also often subjected to constant violence called lynchings. You would think that Robert would know Jewish history and would see similarities between the discrimination of Jewish people and African Americans throughout history but racism doesn’t have any logic. In another life maybe he would have been a civil rights activist fighting for the rights of all Americans including African Americans. This still doesn’t justify antisemitism. Jewish people and African Americans have had a complicated relationship between each other with both division and collaboration with each other such as during the civil rights movement many Jewish Americans including many Holocaust survivors recognizing the similar historic prejudice and discrimination between them and African Americans marched alongside civil rights activists fighting against segregation.

[@teto85]

@@jfournerat1274 Thank you fror repeating what most of us already know.

[@murdelabop]

One of the neighborhoods Moses paved over was the street on which my great grandparents and their ten children lived. It's now under an expressway.

[@petercarioscia9189]

Thanks for the land, grandpa

[@andrewfischer8564]

he paved over where my father lived.. he never failed to point out the spot when we drove over it. divided some neighborhoods that have never recovered and now the city is trying to reverse some of moses routes. he did much good but he made some large mistakes.... also making parkways so busses could travel to the burbs.. jones beach one of the greatest creations of all times

[@LIEgabrag]

Being a Mets fan, hearing Simon say "...it was a poor substitute for what they had lost" really hits home 😭

[@jcngokai-76]

That’s because Robert Moses forced out both the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers out of New York City … TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!!!

[@stephenwright8824]

@@jcngokai-76 Walter O'Malley would have left anyway and the Giants were only hanging around until they did. Moses may have refused to build the Dodgers the stadium O'Malley wanted him to, but it was a clash of egos in that case.

[@petenielsen6683]

@@stephenwright8824 My father grew up cheering for the Dodgers and still cheers when he hears the Yankees have lost. And he is a (Syracuse) Mets fan.

[@rockintetster]

The best thing that ever happened to the Dodgers and the Giants was leaving New York City, both franchises did much better in California!

[@victormarrotti2575]

@@petenielsen6683 Your father's team received many defeats by the Yankees.

[@nordisk1874]

You skimmed over what he did in Throgs Neck! He was so vindictive against New York Merchant Marine Academy now SUNY Maritime the oldest maritime school in the country. They refused to give him an office in Fort Schuyler an fort dating back to post war of 1812. In retaliation he built the bridge through the middle of the campus impeding any further growth for the school. It also created a lovely wind tunnel that makes life difficult for the underclassmen taking the forth class walk to the fort every winter. Not to mention a very cold sports complex.

[@MIKELIN8]

On a side not, Robert Moses is also the man who drove the Dodgers out of Brooklyn. It's too bad that old-time Brooklyn fans demonized Walter O'Malley, who genuinely wanted to build a domed stadium in Brooklyn, but Moses wouldn't let him buy the land parcel he wanted.

[@kevinbergin9971]

Hold on, O'Malley, who had the California deal in his back pocket. He would not have paid fair market value for the land that would have been picked up via Eminent Domain. So should the taxpayers have paid the difference? Should Eminent Dmain be used for a sports team? See Definitely Delish above on that last one.

[@JPKnapp-ro6xm]

Keep in mind that everything that happened in New York also happened in Chicago without Robert Moses. The Eisenhower and Dan Ryan Expressways leveled tens of thousands of homes, huge ugly housing projects were built (especially along the Dan Ryan), and public transit was left to decay. There were larger forces at work.

[@davoz9773]

Robert Moses was trending on Twitter today and it’s insane the amount of Poole who seem to have never heard of him. He truly left both good marks and bad ones on this world

[@petenielsen6683]

To this day my nearly 90 year old father still blames the loss of his favorite baseball team on the owner's greed and not Robert Moses. And he cheers when the Yankees lose even though there is no team in Brooklyn. And he still has nostalgia for the good ol' days of the 2nd World War going to double features including the round trip train rides for 50 cents and maybe going to cheer on The Dodgers or fishing off the Tonnenville peer for dinner.

[@kevinbergin9971]

Glad that you can share those memories with him.

[@naftalibendavid]

Lagwadia. Like the airport that always loses my luggage. Nice work!

[@SRosenberg203]

When they started construction on LaGuardia, it was the biggest and best equipped airport in the world. By the time it was finished being built, however, only a few years later, it was almost completely obsolete given the booming expansion of air travel, and they started building what would later be renamed JFK airport only a few years after LaGuardia was finished.

[@michaelsinger4638]

Robert Caro’s book about Moses is very good.

[@gradyrm237]

Cat lived 92 years and you've shown a single photo of him 33 times. Also, how is the mafia not mentioned?

[@chalkywhitelll8448]

The mafia did have anything to do with the story

[@stuartsmellie4966]

I first learned about him after watching Motherless Brooklyn, so imagine my surprise when I learned he was a real man. Excellent work as usual Simon.

[@jimihanlon5544]

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York is a 1974 biography of Robert Moses by Robert Caro.

[@dandingfelder6763]

What a fantastic movie Motherless Brooklyn is and it is also very underrated.

[@ecchicharmed]

Same with me, but Dimension 20's The Unsleeping City. Never thought someone whose last name is Moses could exist.

[@MegaShinobi3]

As a native New Yorker I must correct mistake Simon made. The Dodgers were a baseball team, the Giants were a FOOTBALL team.

[@davidoreilly7328]

I heard Robert Moses was the inspiration for the Marvel villain Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin). There is a video on KZbin called The Real Life Wilson Fisk that discusses it

[@jimihanlon5544]

The movie; Motherless Brooklyn too

[@LightHalcyon]

Fun fact: those parkways also wind a lot. He’d avoid planning it through nice neighborhoods. They are fun to drive though.

[@cathycasuccio3227]

yeah, ask Niagara Falls NY.

[@ManhattanRats]

I live in Manhattan at the intersection of 125th Street and Amsterdam Ave. The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge (nee Triboro Bridge) terminates perhaps 60 ft. in the air and comes down to the street level of 125th Street today at its extreme eastern end in Manhattan. Had Robert Moses had his way, 125th St. in Harlem, Manhattan, would have been obliterated by the construction of an elevated highway (the same 60 ft. in the air) running the length of 125th Street to the West Side Highway, thence running to the George Washington Bridge and the crossing into NJ to the west. It would have taken out multiple blocks of active, viable, vibrant Harlem life should it have been completed. This would have included the famed Apollo Theater, which is alive and well today as well as an active and vibrant street life along 125th Street. I walk along this active and vibrant Harlem community on 125th Street daily. I am so very happy that Robert Moses did not have the chance to replace Harlem's 125th Street life with an Interstate flyover highway.

[@kevinbergin9971]

There were plans on the board for the CBE as far back as the 1920s (before Moses came into office) when the George Washington Bridge first opened. Trucks came across and snarled Bronx traffic all day long. They were often not even stopping in New York or L.I. just heading up to New England. Not saying he did it right, far from it, but something was going to be put in place.

[@twocvbloke]

"Pave paradise, put up a parking lot", pretty much what he did really...

[@carlgreisheimer8701]

Some of his biggest parking lots were in Jones Beach and JONES BEACH is paradise.

[@Mr._E]

Fun fact: On all parkways that Moses built, the bridges are too low to accommodate buses. This was to keep anyone who didn't own a car (anyone not white) from using them. This way he could keep places like Jones Beach segregated covertly.

[@anthonyC214]

And today, with GPS, out of state truckers and buses are getting stuck under these lower cross over bridges

[@jasonphillips9281]

Anyone not white didn’t own a car 👀🙄😂 swear some people have no idea how clueless they really are

[@TheItalianTrash]

@@anthonyC214 Judging by last time I was at Jones Beach I'd say that Moses apparently failed at keeping minorities out, but the white to minority ratio on the North Shore was a resounding success.

[@Mr._E]

@@jasonphillips9281 Take a look at the demographics of NYC in the 40s and 50s.... very few people overall owned a car, but those that did were overwhelmingly white.

[@liviia305]

I was married to a Long Island boy and traveled those highways and bridges many times, but I never learned the backstory. Thank you for the edification, team!

[@jimihanlon5544]

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York is a 1974 biography of Robert Moses by Robert Caro.

[@stevenbodo965]

At least he did something productive with his power, instead of just pocketing the money.

[@dennismiddlebrooks7027]

Like destroying viable neighborhoods and displacing 250,000 people?

[@ethanramos4441]

“Those who can, build. Those who can’t, Criticize.” Robert Moses

[@eduardoramirezjr4403]

Moses was both a Master builder and a total SOB. He cheated people’s out of their homes with the use of eminent domain and didn’t compensated them properly. In the case of the Central Bronx, he gave residents only 30 days to vacate the homes before tearing down their homes. In some cases, the marshals and police were used to evict folks who refused to move. As for the parkways, he deliberately constructed them with lower overpasses so buses from the city couldn’t get to Jones Beach. He felt most city folks were trash and he didn’t want them to use “his” beach. When it came to public housing, he build many them far from subway stations making it difficult for residents to get to work. Although, I must disagree with Simon’s comment that “public housing is reviled”. In most cases, public housing provided clean, decent and affordable housing for hundreds of thousands of NYers. It was lack maintenance and using them as a dumping ground that change public option towards them. Also, Moses refused to allow for public input and placed many perfectly decent areas under the wrecking ball. One last thing, he also refused to use the assets of the cash rich TBA to help fund capital improvements for public transportation. Assisting in the MTA’s decline throughout the late 50’s until the early ‘90s.

[@jefflewis4]

Moses gave central bronx (E Tremont) residents 90 days (not 30) to vacate. But he knew it wasn't going to be 90 days, the legal/political battles took another year. They didn't begin demolition until about 3 years after they were sent the first vacate letter.

[@jpjpjp453]

Easily the most controversial person in 20th century NYC history. For as many spectacular leaps of progress he ushered in there were as many instances which revealed a supremely petty, stubborn, and vindictive man. The lowest point has to be the ruination of the East Tremont neighborhood of the Bronx by the Cross Bronx Expressway.

[@petercarioscia9189]

The expressway is far more useful

[@SRosenberg203]

@@petercarioscia9189 Not for the people who were displaced from their homes.

[@malcolml309]

@@petercarioscia9189 People, are far MORE important than expressways!

[@kevinbergin9971]

" ...most controversial ..." implies you have pros and cons on the man? Okay, see my comments throughout.

[@DS-uh6ss]

If you want to understand what racism via city planning looks like, just look at Robert Moses.

[@jimihanlon5544]

Robert Mosses; early on, prevented subway access to Jones Beach and to further make it impossible to be accessed by Afro-Americans & Latinos, had the overpasses lowered to prevent church groups in buses from venturing into long island. the two city parks constructed in black neighborhoods had only one gated access positioned in the highest peak corner, which then opened onto a three-flight-granite-stairway descending into the parks, he relished watching black mothers with their prams scale steep sidewalks up to the gates only having to traverse the descending stairs into the parks on opening day.

[@Galaar]

Pulitzer prize winning author of "The Power Broker, Robert Moses and the Fall of New York" Robert A. Caro gave me one of my favorite quotes, "We are taught Lord Acton's axiom, 'All power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely' I believed that when I started these books, but I don't believe it's always true anymore. What I believe is always true about power is that power always reveals, when you have enough power to do what you always wanted to do, then you see what the guy always wanted to do."

[@kevinbergin9971]

To be fair, he also get things built.

[@jinunited7800]

It is interesting learning how the borough of queens that I grew up in came to be. Came about knowing Robert Moses by watching a video about the the worlds fair. Great video

[@JK-gu3tl]

The ultimate powerful bureaucrat. Someone who was never voted on, but yield such power.

[@thedexterbros]

19:29 arguably yes, but there are two highways in Manhattan now, the West Side Highway / Henry Hudson Parkway and the FDR Drive. Though arguably not "major" as they don't connect any two cities, they couldn't be any longer as far as Manhattan highways are concerned, being that they each run the length of the island

[@FisherKing9633]

I can’t recommend Robert Caro’s the Power Broker enough. I don’t think there’s ever been a book that creates as complete a portrait of so complex a man as Caro did for Moses. I understand some academic consider it a hit piece, and some the greatest biography ever written. Seems to me that a book with such a mixed reputation fits a man with so complex a reputation. If you read it, you’ll hate Moses and pity him at the same time. He is unsparing in his criticism of Moses’ politics and racism, and yet Caro somehow finds a great tragedy in Moses’ life.

[@christopherharper9932]

LOL! I LOVE the cold as long as I have my house. I still sleep with the AC on in the middle of winter.

[@lawman860]

theres a podcast called the road that ruined a city. its about this guy and hartford connecticut. he built route 84 right through the heart of hartford. destroying neighborhoods and the city just like he wanted to do with manhattan

[@cassandraralph5906]

Great video. I learned a lot about New York City, and its history today. I would like to see a biography of Jane Jacobs please. Thanks!

[@MichaelAMacomber]

Fantastic. Wish it was a longer ditty.

[@PandaBear62573]

Robert Moses cleared out the low income homes where Lincoln Center now sits. Fordham University built a 2nd campus next to the Lincoln Center on part of this land.

[@kevinbergin9971]

As a Fordham alumni I kind of have to stick up for him. He was a scoundrel, but he was our scoundrel.

[@PandaBear62573]

@@kevinbergin9971 my daughter went to Fordham at the Lincoln Center campus so yeah I understand.

[@juliangreen9930]

"Robert Moses State Park, lamb in the sand/Blam Blam a piggie try to put my fam in the can" - Action Bronson

[@davebax6467]

I think this could’ve been a much longer and more encompassing video if it included his massive reservoir projects in upstate NY and out in California

[@petenielsen6683]

Those are subjects for another Mega Projects video. He was trying to stick to a time frame.

[@fred3467]

Moses destroyed the Bronx by running expressways through neighborhoods.If it weren’t for protests, he would have done the same to Greenwich Village.

[@kevinbergin9971]

To be fair, there were plans on the board for a CBE in the 1920s as soon as the GW Bridge opened. Trucks snarled in Bronx traffic all day long-many of them were not even going to NYC just passing through on their way to New England. It is hard to justify all of Moses' efforts but make no mistake, something had to be done there.

[@southernpacific7200]

Robert Moses, don't you mean the man who displayed thousands of families?

[@lowerclassbrats77]

In a glass case or on a shelf?

[@gphjr1444]

@@lowerclassbrats77 right after he displaced them ;)

[@petercarioscia9189]

And made travel possible for billions.

[@DaveXXX]

@@petercarioscia9189 yeah as long as they were white

[@skate103]

😂😂😂

[@christopherbrennan9882]

You missed a perfect opportunity to title that segment “Bob the Builder” instead of “The Master Builder.” Shame.

[@cathycasuccio3227]

best comment on this vid!

[@TheEvilCommenter]

Good video 👍

[@NathanDav42]

You spend your childhood knowing trucks and trailers can’t drive on the Northern or Southern State Parkways, but you don’t ask why. Then you read the Power Broker and learn it’s because of racism. Kind of an eye-opener.

[@theoutlook55]

Urban planning is so important but so underrated.

[@keithharper1470]

O'Malley wanted the new stadium where the Barclay's Center now stands for the same reasons the Nets wanted it you can take most subway lines even LIRR to get there. O'Malley knew to keep some of his fan base that moved to Long Island he needed that spot.

[@jefflewis4]

The Flushing site was the better site, Moses was right on that one.

[@kevinbergin9971]

The Mets have done just fine in Queens which is closer to those L.I. transplants. Oh, there is a LIRR stop in Flushing too, plus more room for parking.

[@beestains779]

He also parted the Red Sea. I’m kind of surprised that was left out.

[@wildsmiley]

Yeah, to build a crosstown expressway.

[@carlgreisheimer8701]

@@wildsmiley LOL!

[@RuthD913]

He built a parkway from Buffalo to Niagara Falls, displaced many indigenous people on the way. Not that he cared

[@robertewalt7789]

For those outside the US, the Triboro Bridge Authority is one of many agencies somewhat independent of state or federal control. The agency raised funds by issuing bonds, not subject to federal or state income taxes.

[@beach81959]

I drive the Long Island parkways he designed on an almost daily basis, they're too narrow for current vehicle size and traffic loads but are a joy when traffic is light

[@saeedhossain6099]

it was very intentional, larger roadways would allow buses and not only private vehicles to operate on them, so only relatively well off people could use them.

[@carlgreisheimer8701]

@@saeedhossain6099 People forget that he also siezed, excused me, used "Emminent domain", to aquire land from the "Gold Coast" people of LONG ISLAND to build the LIE. In other words he screwed over the rich and the poor in the name of the MIDDLE CLASS(THE BACKBONE OF THIS COUNTRY).

[@carlgreisheimer8701]

On Sunday mornings many years ago, while going out too Amityville, I would get my 1986 ALFA ROMEO SPIDER up to 90mph on the twisty, winding, curvy sections of the Southern State Parkway. The road was meant for "pleasure driving". You can't experience that same level of pleasure with commercial sharing the same road. Plus they were designned to get people to JONES BEACH. When they were built in the 1920s and 1930s a good portion of LONG ISLAND was still FARMLAND. It was only after WORLD WAR 2 ended in 1945 and G.I.s came home that whole villages and towns started to be built(the suburbs) that these parkways started to turn into commuter roads. An 8000 pound SUV will not handle those parkways as good as a 2500 lbs. sportscar!

[@carlgreisheimer8701]

Beach 8, can you tell me where FIELD 9 is?

[@carlgreisheimer8701]

I HATE THE NEW WEST END 2!!

[@joshwhite5407]

Shout out to Ed Norton’s “Motherless Brooklyn”

[@Gangxisiyu]

God Damn Robert Moses.

[@anthonyC214]

My Grandfather had a 1951 Buick Special and he would put all the grandchildren into it and take us from Queens to Jones Beach on the weekend . We ,the grandchildren, would have a contest who could see the water tower that looked like the Washington Mountment first.

[@donaldkelly3983]

Good intentions? Robert Moses? Read The Power Broker by Caro.

[@wmeemw994]

Manipulative intentions to grab autocratic power ... absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[@wmeemw994]

For people who do not know, Robert Moses did much for the city & state highways, but he clearly manipulated his ‘eminent domain’ projects in acquiring lands to build the highways in/around NYC. He also built the ‘Parkways’ of NY City (‘Belt Parkway’) and Long Island (Northern, Southern, Sagtikos & Meadowbrook) for wealthy & elite but not for buses of the poor & low-income to get to Long Island beaches via his parkways (faster moving) to speed their presence on Long Island Beaches. He specifically built arched overpasses of intersecting roadways with limited height of archways (8’-9’) to lower clearance for buses needed (1o’-11’) to limit lower income people access to the NY state beaches & parks via parkways. He also gerrymandered LI Parkways to skirt along property lines of wealthy gilded estate holders (Aster, (Vanderbilt, Morgan & Rockefeller) owned by wealthy & powerful friends taking forty miles overall to travel just thirty miles from West to East.

[@dsnodgrass4843]

I loved most of it; but don't drop it on your foot.,😂

[@HayastAnFedayi]

Did you read it? If you did you would know that Caro not only critiques Moses but also offers praise where due.

[@dwaynesbadchemicals]

Destroyer of neighborhoods.

[@diamondtiara84]

I never knew there were that many unemployed people in the city during the Depression; I knew it was bad but that's about a quarter of the population! The best thing (at least in my opinion) Moses did for the city was the Bronx's Orchard Beach. He was far from perfect, but for that he deserves credit. I think one of the saddest things was the destruction of the San Juan Hill neighborhood to build Lincoln Center (which I never thought all that impressive).

[@cyberi4a]

This was very interesting. I knew the Dodgers & Giants came here from NY, but never knew why.

[@MegaShinobi3]

As a native New Yorker I must correct mistake Simon made. The Dodgers were a baseball team, the Giants were a FOOTBALL team.

[@thedevilluis]

Would love if you could perhaps do in the future the biographics of Sasaki Kojiro and John Milton. Awesome videos!

[@DGDolgicer]

His influence actually destroyed neighborhoods and displaced people into large housing developments that are horrifically unattractive and character-less. His ego was enormous and he never questioned his plans--no mater how it affected people. He left mostly destruction in his wake. He failed to make New York City into a big, sprawling, monotonous suburb--but he did a lot of damage in trying to do so. He didn't understand New York City.

[@MegaShinobi3]

As a native New Yorker I must correct mistake Simon made. The Dodgers were a baseball team, the Giants were a FOOTBALL team.

[@schizrade]

You should do a story on what happened to Chavez Ravine in order to give the Dodgers their stadium. Its like a continuation of the horror.

[@Geo_Thermal]

A fair assessment of the man. Thank you.

[@RicochetRita]

His Cross-Bronx Expressway would make a good subject for a Megaprojects video.

[@Bamm1894]

Bro got outcapitalisted by Rockefeller

[@bennythepenny5831]

The Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, a creation of crooked Robert Moses will be demolished under my plans to make New York more accessible by replacing it with a better bridge. The new Verrazzano Narrows Bridge should have 8 lanes of road traffic, room for NYC Subway trains, & a pedestrian walkway.

[@mattyian1208]

The Verrazzano Narrows Bridge needs to be replaced and a new bridge should be built with an upper and lower level, a MTA Subway line and bus lane, and a pedestrian lane on the new Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge when it is replaced.

[@willae1]

ahem* thats not a road to hell, its a bridge to queens.

[@wmeemw994]

For people who do not know, Robert Moses did much for the city & state highways, but he clearly manipulated his ‘eminent domain’ projects in acquiring lands to build the highways in/around NYC. He also built the ‘Parkways’ of NY City (‘Belt Parkway’) and Long Island (Northern, Southern, Sagtikos & Meadowbrook) for wealthy & elite but not for buses of the poor & low-income to get to Long Island beaches via his parkways (faster moving) to speed their presence on Long Island Beaches. He specifically built arched overpasses of intersecting roadways with limited height of archways (8’-9’) to lower clearance for buses needed (1o’-11’) to limit lower income people access to the NY state beaches & parks via parkways. He also gerrymandered LI Parkways to skirt along property lines of wealthy gilded estate holders (Aster, (Vanderbilt, Morgan & Rockefeller) owned by wealthy & powerful friends taking forty miles overall to travel just thirty miles from West to East.j

[@PandaBear62573]

I did not know the part about why the LI parkway winds so much. I've always wondered why that road winds so much, I found it very unnecessary. Although given your explanation and knowing how racist Robert Moses was I'm not surprised. Thank you for providing this information.

[@cathycasuccio3227]

not that I’m sticking up for the guy but he himself, even in a government position cannot issue eminent domain - that has to be approved by multiple entities- the municipal city/town, then the county and ultimately approved by the governor at the time for the eminent domain process of seizing property for public use can happen. at least that was the process when i worked for dot in ny for 27 years. there’s a process. so other people were ok with the plan at the time for all this to happen.

[@dasmole4804]

Robert Moses is the city skylines architect of new york

[@PaulVanSickle]

Outstanding bio as always, Simon! Just one question though, how did you cover Robert Moses and not say anything at all about the Mafia's "alleged" involvement?

[@eco-and-crypto]

C’mon smell the roses Moses!

[@squashduos1258]

He also despised the subways..

[@notfadeaway6617]

interesting. thank you! I would like to see jacobs video from you as well!

[@paulortega155]

i've been living in NYC for almost two years now, and whenever I head anyone complaining about the traffic, the trains, and how difficult it can be to navigate Brooklyn and Queens, I tell them "don't blame people or the MTA, blame Robert Moses" lol

[@sarah-janegalipo3995]

This was great . X

[@abnerparel6654]

Please do one for Joseph Smith, the founder of LDS church/ Mormon denomination. A big fan of ur videos and content. Thank you for doing this.

[@robinsoto2700]

This one was excellent Simon, I wanted to leanr about him and the fact boi does it best

[@jimihanlon5544]

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York is a 1974 biography of Robert Moses by Robert Caro.

[@robinsoto2700]

@@jimihanlon5544 is it actually worth reading tho?

[@MegaShinobi3]

As a native New Yorker I must correct mistake Simon made. The Dodgers were a baseball team, the Giants were a FOOTBALL team.

[@michaellosasso4020]

Top-notch video! Although you didn’t mention the tumult and financial fiasco if the 1964 NY World’s Fair as another key contributor in Moses downfall.

[@Musicradio77Network]

I saw it in a Defunctland episode about the 1964 NY World’s Fair where Walt Disney met Robert Moses. It was a fun episode. There was another episode about the Epcot project and Robert Moses was briefly appeared on that one along with Walt’s final years and his passing in 1966.

[@truthserum6808]

One correction: There is one high with at does cross Manhattan. I-95 runs through Washington Heights section in Upper Manhattan as the “Trans-Manhattan Expressway”, which enters the Bronx as the “Cross-Bronx Expressway.

[@christopherharper9932]

Damn, I miss Queens! The Queens of 94, 95, 96. Jamaica Ave, dollar vans, beef patties, incense...

[@JohnRobertHy]

Caro presents Lindsay as relatively inept in his efforts to challenge Moses’ power. Lindsay’s attempt to merge Triborough and the transit authority through legislation failed spectacularly. The book suggests it was Governor Rockefeller who was ultimately responsible for Moses’ demise, because he called Moses’ bluff and accepted the resignation of Moses’ state posts, and because he convinced Moses to forgo legal action on behalf of the Triborough bond holders in exchange for promises of a board seat on the newly formed MTA.

[@kevaninthe4135]

Also the biggest bond holders in TBTA were Chase Manhattan Bank, which was run by David Rockefeller, the brother of the Governor. They could have sued, but David wasn't gonna sue.

[@mr.joshua6818]

I think I finally understand why people hate the Mets...

[@itseveryday8600]

There is a highway in Manhattan called the East river drive or FDR drive, and it was designed by... Yes, Robert Moses!

[@piettrified]

Just found out about moses through an ad for a play about his struggle for the highways

[@lyndafeustel4861]

Born and raised Long Island and I hear his name all. The. Time. Quite prominent around here. He kind of sucks as a person, but I appreciate what he’s done in NY

[@casablanca2745]

Caro’s Power Broker is essential reading. A great companion book is Jeff Chang’s “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” on the origins of Hip Hop Music. The Cross Bronx Exp severed black neighborhoods giving rise to graffiti artists and the rap/hip hop music and culture that is still going strong today.

[@btuesday]

Great book by the way.

[@johnpurcell931]

And new York named a state Park after him. .

[@pamelamays4186]

Suggestions: HRH Prince Philip. HRM George VI. Dick Clark, aka America's Oldest Teenager. Richard Pryor. Cartoon artist/animator Chuck Jones. Sir Alfred Hitchcock. Jazz greats Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Count Bassie. Voice actor June Foray. Author Langston Hughes. Sammy Davis, Jr. Dancers and choreographers the Nicholas Brothers.

[@aspeer]

You should do a video on Owen Vincent "Owney" Madden. He was a gangster in Hot Springs, AR who ran around with Luciano and Capone.

[@jamesmartin6050]

Here are some suggestions for another video - all interesting people April Ellison/William Ellison Jr. (1790-1861) - a freed slave from South Carolina who became a successful slaveowner and planter himself before the civil war. Anthony Johnson (1600-1670) - a former indentured servant who became one of the first African American property owners in America and a successful tobacco farmer. Lord Mountbatten (1900-1979) - Prince Philip’s uncle and Queen Elizabeth’s second cousin once removed who was assassinated by the IRA Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) - Japanese poet, author, playwright, actor and nationalist who committed seppuku after a failed attempt to overthrow Japan’s 1947 constitution. Robert Walpole (1676-1745) - British politician who was the first prime minister of Great Britain from 1721 until 1742 under King George I and King George II. Eamon DeValera (1882-1975) - prominent political leader in 20th century Ireland who, after the Irish war of independence from 1919 to 1921, was in the public eye for over forty years from 1922 until his death were he served as head of government (Taoiseach/prime minister) and head of state (president). He was nearly executed in the Easter Rising in 1916 and was key in putting into place the new constitution on 1937. A very prominent Irish figure and one of the most important in Irish history. George Eastman (1854-1932) - American entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak company. He was a pioneer of photography and a major philanthropist. He commit suicide at the age of 77 because of chronic pain from health problems. Emile Zola (1840-1902) - French novelist and journalist who is an early practitioner in the literary genre, naturalism. He was involved in the Dreyfus affair, a political scandal in France. He died in 1902 at the age of 62 from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. ryoichi sasakawa (1899-1995) - Japanese businessman, politician, sports administrator, philanthropist and was criminal who helped Norman Borlaug with his Green Revolution. Seamus Heaney (1939-2013) - Irish poet, playwright and translator who won the 1995 Nobel prize for literature and wrote a poem about The Tollund Man comparing his cause of death to The Troubles in Northern Ireland. W.B. Yeats (1865-1939) - Irish poet, dramatist and writer with an interest in the occult who helped found the Abbey Theatre and was a senator for the Irish Free State. He is one of the most important historical figures in Irish history. Prince Phillip, The Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021) - husband and consort to Queen Elizabeth who served in the navy as a young man, serving in the Second World War. He died recently so it would be a good choice. Jordan Belfort (born 1962) - former stockbroker, author, motivational speaker and convicted felon who committed fraud via stock market manipulation. His book was the inspiration behind the film The Wolf of Wall Street starring Leonardo DiCaprio in 2013. Andrew Cunanan (1969-1997) - spree killer responsible for five murders before his suicide via gunshot. His victims include Gianna Versace and Lee Miglin. Lee Miglin (1924-1997) - American business tycoon, real estate developer and philanthropist who was spree killer, Andrew Cunanan’s third murder victim. “The Count of Saint Germain” (1691 or 1712 -died 1784) - European Adventurer who achieved prominence in high society in the 1700’s. His real name is unknown while his background is obscure. He claimed to be the son of Prince Francis II Rakoczi of Transylvania. He was arrested for suspicion of espionage during the Jacobite rebellion but was released without charge. Julia d’Aunigny (1670 or 1673 -died 1707) - 17th century French opera singer who was known for her flamboyant lifestyle. Her father was a secretary to the master of the horse to King Louis XIV. She was a keen sword fighter, cross-dressed and tried to run away with a female lover after killing a man in a duel. She died at the age of 33. Past American presidents, British prime ministers, monarchs and Roman emperors would be good as well.

[@chantristrammell6088]

Actually, the truth is that the people in the area that is now central park had been run out of the rest of Mahattan. There were two areas one was the one you described and also Seneca Village. Both areas were predominantly black with some Irish immigrants living there but Seneca Village was no shanty town. There were homes and people actually owned property. Of the 700+ acres acquired by imminent domain, the majority was no squalor space. It is easily researched as I found out about it from looking up a place called the Actor's Fund Home. That was also forcibly moved by the establishment of central park.

[@cathycasuccio3227]

eminent domain.

[@chantristrammell6088]

@@cathycasuccio3227 You read through all that information I provided and all you saw was the fact that I misspelled a word? Since you have such an affinity for correcting, why not do some research on the history of other communities that have been destroyed by literally washing away of history. Here's a few for you: Lake Guntersville in Guntersville; Alabama; Lake Martin in central Alabama; the Devils Punch Bowl in Natchez; Mississippi; and Lake Lanier in Metro Atlanta, GA. All were seized by Eminent domain and none are taught in schools in the US today.

[@Mr1159pm]

"no major highway exists in Manhattan" What about the FDR drive?

[@mattyian1208]

The Trans Manhattan Expressway (I-95) is the only expressway across Manhattan.

[@cmdrflake]

This arrogant SOB drove the Dodgers out of Brooklyn. He cut the city of Niagara Falls off from its namesake slamming an expressway that isolated the Falls in an expensive park. But, the plague of toll roads and expensive “parks” is his lasting legacy. Some of the damage is being undone, but he is hated.

[@cathycasuccio3227]

your comment is exactly how i feel. people trying to change history and some people know better. some of us on other side of the state also know his illustrious history. 😤🤣. i’m from buffalo southtowns and driving the robert moses parkway was ridiculous. never fixed or updated. but hey - nys renamed it so it makes it all better (jk).

[@genemorgan736]

Calling the mets a poor substitute is the most underhanded funny thing I've ever heard you say.

[@CaliforniaBushman]

Never knew they we're going to chop Greenwich Village in half for a Cross Manhattan Parkway. Like a Cross County Parkway? Glad they stopped it. Because this is what separates Manhattan from other cities. Miles of old neighborhoods going back centuries.

[@ra0929]

Cross County had a similar issue when it was widened, there were a lot of protests by people in Mt Vernon who didn't want to lose their houses or see their property values plummet. The LoMEx wasn't the only project proposed for Manhattan. Moses wanted another crosstown highway through Manhattan, as well as bridges across the Battery and the LI Sound.

[@jefflewis4]

What also separates Manhattan from other cities is it doesn't have a highway going through the city center. You find out what a pain that is when you try to go from the Lincoln tunnel to Queens or Long Island. Its a very slow crawl to get from the Lincoln tunnel to the midtown tunnel.

[@davidfreeman3083]

@@jefflewis4 But if there really was a cross midtown expressway connecting Lincoln to QMT or Queens bridge, and that cross downtown expressway linking Holland Tunnel with Manhattan and/or Williamsburg bridges, they would probably be some of the most congested highways in the world, that you're essentially going into a giant parking lot when you go there.

[@davidfreeman3083]

@@ra0929 Crossings across the LI sound that connects the more Eastern parts of the LI and New England sounds like something that's long overdue. And I think that's why there're still a lot of ppl defending Moses. Cuz if there were still ppl like him in charge of those projects we might already have one. But now, after more than half a century of so called planning and debating, we still have absolutely nada.

[@davidfreeman3083]

Well try to follow Cash Jordan the influencer real estate agent operating here in NYC. You'll see those 'miles of old neighborhoods' really are, I try really hard to find a nice words, but I have to say I don't think calling them slums are harsh. Nowadays, the apartments in the (in)famous 'missing skyline' part of Manhattan b/w hearts of midtown (above about 30th st) and downtown (below about Chambers Street), in neighborhoods like Union Sq, Chelsea, East & West & Greenwich villages, LES, etc. are the ones that's as large as a normal walk in closet literally, yet sometimes there would be multiple ppl sharing it. Those are the apartments where the 'full baths' are so small that everything, including a showerhead, a basin and a toilet is fitted into a size of a full bathtub or even smaller. Sometimes you can't even have ACs. (There would be no pre installed PTAC or even AC slots. Split system, or even central HVAC systems? Well in your dreams. They're expensive and maybe even 'incompatible' to those century old buildings. So the only option is a window AC, which would mean whichever window you install on cannot be opened anymore, but still since it's not completely closed as ACs are usually smaller than the opening the already poor soundproofing would get even worse. And, what if your only window is the one with the fire escape? Legally no ACs can be installed on that. And what about those without a window? Not unheard of in those neighborhoods. Also, especially for ppl sharing a multi-room apartment, like those with a 'living room' and several 'beds', they might be too small that installing AC in each room, which I deem absolute necessary just check NYC's weather these days, would create a damaging burden to the delicate and crumbling electrical system of this 'century old historic' building). By law it's illegal for someone to rent you an apartment that can't have heating in the winter. But for a lot of those old houses, it's a dream that you can control your own heating with your own thermostat. Dishwashers, garbage disposal under the sink, or even washing machines, that according to this video has already been household in the USA in the 1950s? Well don't even think about it. You can't even bring in your own, even portable ones, as landlord might cite 'burdens to the delicate plumbing system'. And even if that's not a problem with the landlord, good luck finding a place to put them. Cash Jordan's own office is in that area. And each time I watch his video it looks like he's working overtime at night. Only then I realized it's cuz his office was in a room that faces no sunlight. Yeah, there's a saying, that even having sunlight is a privilege in NYC. No wonder those buildings in the A.M. neighborhoods are the first ones ppl fled once COVID hit. I mean, having historic buildings and neighborhoods are nice. And yes, humanity has operated millennia before things like AC, washing machine, etc. arrive. But I think it's safe to say for a modern American those things are absolutely essential to survive socially. And I don't think it's worth it to protect the history by asking millions of large, 'history rich' city citizens to live essentially a century backward technology wise, especially as the majority of those are poor and socioeconomically underprivileged. I also don't think Robert Moses's idea to destroy them and put a highway in is a good idea. But I do think it's time to 'gentrify' (WITHOUT RELOCATION, absolutely important, and without making them less affordable) those neighborhoods, and give residents, old or new, finally access to the good things of 21st century.