The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • A modern American classic, this huge and galvanizing biography of Robert Moses reveals not only the saga of one man’s incredible accumulation of power but the story of his shaping (and mis-shaping) of twentieth-century New York.
One of the Modern Library’s hundred greatest books of the twentieth century, Robert Caro's monumental book makes public what few outsiders knew: that Robert Moses was the single most powerful man of his time in the City and in the State of New York. And in telling the Moses story, Caro both opens up to an unprecedented degree the way in which politics really happens—the way things really get done in America's City Halls and Statehouses—and brings to light a bonanza of vital information about such national figures as Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt (and the genesis of their blood feud), about Fiorello La Guardia, John V. Lindsay and Nelson Rockefeller.
But The Power Broker is first and foremost a brilliant multidimensional portrait of a man—an extraordinary man who, denied power within the normal framework of the democratic process, stepped outside that framework to grasp power sufficient to shape a great city and to hold sway over the very texture of millions of lives. We see how Moses began: the handsome, intellectual young heir to the world of Our Crowd, an idealist. How, rebuffed by the entrenched political establishment, he fought for the power to accomplish his ideals. How he first created a miraculous flowering of parks and parkways, playlands and beaches—and then ultimately brought down on the city the smog-choked aridity of our urban landscape, the endless miles of (never sufficient) highway, the hopeless sprawl of Long Island, the massive failures of public housing, and countless other barriers to humane living. How, inevitably, the accumulation of power became an end in itself.
Moses built an empire and lived like an emperor. He was held in fear—his dossiers could disgorge the dark secret of anyone who opposed him. He was, he claimed, above politics, above deals; and through decade after decade, the newspapers and the public believed. Meanwhile, he was developing his public authorities into a fourth branch of government known as "Triborough"—a government whose records were closed to the public, whose policies and plans were decided not by voters or elected officials but solely by Moses—an immense economic force directing pressure on labor unions, on banks, on all the city's political and economic institutions, and on the press, and on the Church. He doled out millions of dollars' worth of legal fees, insurance commissions, lucrative contracts on the basis of who could best pay him back in the only coin he coveted: power. He dominated the politics and politicians of his time—without ever having been elected to any office. He was, in essence, above our democratic system.
Robert Moses held power in the state for 44 years, through the governorships of Smith, Roosevelt, Lehman, Dewey, Harriman and Rockefeller, and in the city for 34 years, through the mayoralties of La Guardia, O'Dwyer, Impellitteri, Wagner and Lindsay, He personally conceived and carried through public works costing 27 billion dollars—he was undoubtedly America's greatest builder.
This is how he built and dominated New York—before, finally, he was stripped of his reputation (by the press) and his power (by Nelson Rockefeller). But his work, and his will, had been done.
One of the Modern Library’s hundred greatest books of the twentieth century, Robert Caro's monumental book makes public what few outsiders knew: that Robert Moses was the single most powerful man of his time in the City and in the State of New York. And in telling the Moses story, Caro both opens up to an unprecedented degree the way in which politics really happens—the way things really get done in America's City Halls and Statehouses—and brings to light a bonanza of vital information about such national figures as Alfred E. Smith and Franklin D. Roosevelt (and the genesis of their blood feud), about Fiorello La Guardia, John V. Lindsay and Nelson Rockefeller.
But The Power Broker is first and foremost a brilliant multidimensional portrait of a man—an extraordinary man who, denied power within the normal framework of the democratic process, stepped outside that framework to grasp power sufficient to shape a great city and to hold sway over the very texture of millions of lives. We see how Moses began: the handsome, intellectual young heir to the world of Our Crowd, an idealist. How, rebuffed by the entrenched political establishment, he fought for the power to accomplish his ideals. How he first created a miraculous flowering of parks and parkways, playlands and beaches—and then ultimately brought down on the city the smog-choked aridity of our urban landscape, the endless miles of (never sufficient) highway, the hopeless sprawl of Long Island, the massive failures of public housing, and countless other barriers to humane living. How, inevitably, the accumulation of power became an end in itself.
Moses built an empire and lived like an emperor. He was held in fear—his dossiers could disgorge the dark secret of anyone who opposed him. He was, he claimed, above politics, above deals; and through decade after decade, the newspapers and the public believed. Meanwhile, he was developing his public authorities into a fourth branch of government known as "Triborough"—a government whose records were closed to the public, whose policies and plans were decided not by voters or elected officials but solely by Moses—an immense economic force directing pressure on labor unions, on banks, on all the city's political and economic institutions, and on the press, and on the Church. He doled out millions of dollars' worth of legal fees, insurance commissions, lucrative contracts on the basis of who could best pay him back in the only coin he coveted: power. He dominated the politics and politicians of his time—without ever having been elected to any office. He was, in essence, above our democratic system.
Robert Moses held power in the state for 44 years, through the governorships of Smith, Roosevelt, Lehman, Dewey, Harriman and Rockefeller, and in the city for 34 years, through the mayoralties of La Guardia, O'Dwyer, Impellitteri, Wagner and Lindsay, He personally conceived and carried through public works costing 27 billion dollars—he was undoubtedly America's greatest builder.
This is how he built and dominated New York—before, finally, he was stripped of his reputation (by the press) and his power (by Nelson Rockefeller). But his work, and his will, had been done.
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Community Reviews
I don’t know how to write a review of this book without integrating my own personal passion and anger into. To continue to ask the question “does the end justify the means” has been a constant theme as I listened to this book. Working feverishly to keep my emotional blinders on to the level of hate administered on people disguised and embedded in cement and steel. The book and the arthur where very detailed so much so that I found myself searching through google for names and places to get a clearer picture of the times. My downfall has been my inability to listen objectively. How to rate the book separate from the subject matter is another challenge. I often ask my book club members at what point in my educations life would this book have been introduced to me. My answer on this book would have been NEVER!! Never would I want to know that this level of evil and hate lived. Could the development of NY happened to the levels that it has achieved been without RM? I would almost venture to say no given the level of selfish greed and racism and separatist mindset that existed it’s highly doubtful. I often wonder how we as Americans selectively look back on our history with honor and celebration ignoring the horrid and evil events ingrained in it. It’s almost childish to see one side of the coin without ever realizing that there is another side that obviously exists. That bringing me to the evaluation of this author and the subject matter of this book. If it were not for the existence of all that he built I would have never know RM existed. To know that his parks and beaches are still memorialized today through this book and paraphernalia only brings to light, for me, the effects of the millions and millions of poor people effected by him. I found the book informative while beings sadly disturbing at the same time. To me… these are the hidden parts of America that the rest of the world sees. As I write this post on 9/11/2024.
I decided to read this book mainly due to its appearance on Modern Library's 100 Best Nonfiction books list. It was one of those rare books that was both fascinating and infuriating, at times like watching a train wreck. I was fascinated by the civil engineering aspects of the book, in particular the stats offered on roads, and highways, tolls and toll collections. My grandfather, who lived his entirely life in New York, used to say, "What I wouldn't give for one day's take of this toll booth."
At the same time I was infuriated by Robert Moses' arrogance and flagrant abuse of power. It took me a long time to read the book, not because of it's length (it's the second longest book I've read after [b:Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898|217329|Gotham A History of New York City to 1898|Mike Wallace|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924946s/217329.jpg|1529180] by [a:Mike Wallace|12116376|Mike Wallace|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1420671380p2/12116376.jpg] and [a:Edwin G. Burrows|127374|Edwin G. Burrows|https:s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]), but because I would get so mad, I'd have to stop reading for days at a time before I could continue.
That said, I read late into the night the day before I finished the book, unable to put it down because a Moses' armor had finally been penetrated after an attempt to pave over a playground in Central Park. I became an eager spectator in his defeat. Looking at his civil engineering achievements and combining that with his meanspiritedness and underhandedness provided a real sense of cognitive dissonance.
The book was fascinating, and the fact that it evoked the emotions it did speaks volumes to Caro's ability to weave a fascinating story around what might be considered by some to be the dull topic of urban politics and civil engineering.
At the same time I was infuriated by Robert Moses' arrogance and flagrant abuse of power. It took me a long time to read the book, not because of it's length (it's the second longest book I've read after [b:Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898|217329|Gotham A History of New York City to 1898|Mike Wallace|https:images.gr-assets.com/books/1386924946s/217329.jpg|1529180] by [a:Mike Wallace|12116376|Mike Wallace|https:images.gr-assets.com/authors/1420671380p2/12116376.jpg] and [a:Edwin G. Burrows|127374|Edwin G. Burrows|https:s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/m_50x66-82093808bca726cb3249a493fbd3bd0f.png]), but because I would get so mad, I'd have to stop reading for days at a time before I could continue.
That said, I read late into the night the day before I finished the book, unable to put it down because a Moses' armor had finally been penetrated after an attempt to pave over a playground in Central Park. I became an eager spectator in his defeat. Looking at his civil engineering achievements and combining that with his meanspiritedness and underhandedness provided a real sense of cognitive dissonance.
The book was fascinating, and the fact that it evoked the emotions it did speaks volumes to Caro's ability to weave a fascinating story around what might be considered by some to be the dull topic of urban politics and civil engineering.
The Power Broker is a great book, obviously representing a ton of research, and giving a very detailed view of its subject's rise and fall. It's a complicated, intricately woven history, and Caro walks his reader carefully through it, examining virtually every detail. You come away with a real understanding of the various ways that a man like Robert Moses can turn influence into power, and power into greater power still. (You also come away with a spectacular understanding of the author's incredible disdain for Moses himself.) You are also given numerous opportunities to marvel at the ways in which an intelligent, forceful, remorseless man can dominate an entire city.
That said, this is the first time I ever wished I had read the abridged version of a book. Not every one of this story's threads deserved quite the level of examination it received. It's worth reading, to be sure. But it could have been more so, if reading it weren't quite this much of an investment.
That said, this is the first time I ever wished I had read the abridged version of a book. Not every one of this story's threads deserved quite the level of examination it received. It's worth reading, to be sure. But it could have been more so, if reading it weren't quite this much of an investment.
Robert Caro sets *the* standard for biography. He doesn't focus solely on the person but spends useful time bringing us up to date on side characters and context. The book is lengthy but not remotely academic. It was very easy to finish in a month as an audiobook. Extremely engaging.
Not to mention the particular impact of Moses on New York today. Every bridge, highway, tunnel, park and much of public housing from the 1930s-1960s was basically built by him. As the author mentions, no one in history built at the scale and speed Moses did.
This book is worth reading for any employee or manager because it is not just about cities but about how things get done in organizations that can't get things done.
It wasn't all ethical or legal either. And maybe it was completely ineffective and out of control. Still, a story worth knowing and studying for the good parts and the terrible.
This is a very good book.
Not to mention the particular impact of Moses on New York today. Every bridge, highway, tunnel, park and much of public housing from the 1930s-1960s was basically built by him. As the author mentions, no one in history built at the scale and speed Moses did.
This book is worth reading for any employee or manager because it is not just about cities but about how things get done in organizations that can't get things done.
It wasn't all ethical or legal either. And maybe it was completely ineffective and out of control. Still, a story worth knowing and studying for the good parts and the terrible.
This is a very good book.
I will do what everyone does when starting a review of this book and comment that this is among the best books I have ever read. Caro wrote such a thorough, nuanced, and insightful biography and urban history that it can't reasonably be compared to anything I've read in either category.
The premise of the book is simple, Robert Moses ruled over New York's infrastructure development (particularly transportation and parks) for a period of forty years with an almost total lack of accountability to the public he served and in so doing permanently shaped New York in a way no elected politician, appointed public servant, or private developer ever could have before or will again. The questions Caro spends most of the book exploring were (1) what was the impact of Moses's reign and (2) how did a single person obtain, maintain, and deploy such tremendous power in a nominally democratic society.
The benefit the city received for his rule includes a level of infrastructure development unequaled anywhere in history: 700+ miles of road and parkway, 20,000 acres of parkland and beaches, 600+ playgrounds, seven (!) bridges, UN headquarters, two hydroelectric dams, and Lincoln Center.
The cost set the city on a path toward fiscal ruin and permanent gridlock: the dislocation of families, destruction of neighborhoods, construction of poor quality slums, subtle subjugation of the poor, under funding of mass transit (not a Moses favorite), tremendous fiscal waste, and the formation of byzantine funding structures that ensured money not only wouldn't but couldn't flow to where it was needed most.
Caro clearly comes down on the negative side of the argument of whether Moses was on balance a positive force, though does a nice job of laying out the tremendous productive success Moses brought to New York.
However, the normative review is the least important part of the book. Caro does his best work when he explains the means by which Moses obtained, kept, and deployed his power. Caro resists the temptation to blithely describe Moses as a tyrant and instead meticulously lays out precisely how Moses maintained power that undoubtedly no one in a Democratic society was ever meant to posses. These methods include:
+ Drafting legislation, prior to even occupying office, at the state level that permitted him to obtain and deploy authority in a way that not a single legislator intended
+ Lying, repeatedly and specifically, to get projects funded and started, knowing that politicians could not very well stop a project half way thru (oddly this works for 40+ years)
+ Forming authorities, unaccountable to government, which generated income that could not be redistributed, and then writing detailed bond covenants that effectively placed these agencies outside of the purview of elected officials
+ Systems of patronage that effectively amounted to bribing the better part of the engineering, construction, architecture, permitting, and political community in New York
+ His tremendous productive capacity
+ Converting the press, for the better part of his forty year reign, into his mouthpiece and using a combination of intimidation and misinformation to discredit any reformer trying to criticize him
+ Terrifying bullying and destruction of lives and careers, and with it the reputation and justifiable fear that anyone crossing Moses would quickly be out of a job or worse
Through these and more methods, Moses remained unaccountable to governors, mayors, public servants, and in effect the public itself for almost half the twentieth century, while he went about designing and building the most important elements of one of the most important cities in the world.
If it took a Moses to do these things, it's hard to believe anyone but a Caro could have ever researched and told the story correctly.
I'll close by saying, after almost 12,000 pages of text, the book was so riveting that I proceeded to read about one hundred pages of footnotes, interview summaries, and author comments which themselves could be published as a book and rate among the best books I've ever read.
The premise of the book is simple, Robert Moses ruled over New York's infrastructure development (particularly transportation and parks) for a period of forty years with an almost total lack of accountability to the public he served and in so doing permanently shaped New York in a way no elected politician, appointed public servant, or private developer ever could have before or will again. The questions Caro spends most of the book exploring were (1) what was the impact of Moses's reign and (2) how did a single person obtain, maintain, and deploy such tremendous power in a nominally democratic society.
The benefit the city received for his rule includes a level of infrastructure development unequaled anywhere in history: 700+ miles of road and parkway, 20,000 acres of parkland and beaches, 600+ playgrounds, seven (!) bridges, UN headquarters, two hydroelectric dams, and Lincoln Center.
The cost set the city on a path toward fiscal ruin and permanent gridlock: the dislocation of families, destruction of neighborhoods, construction of poor quality slums, subtle subjugation of the poor, under funding of mass transit (not a Moses favorite), tremendous fiscal waste, and the formation of byzantine funding structures that ensured money not only wouldn't but couldn't flow to where it was needed most.
Caro clearly comes down on the negative side of the argument of whether Moses was on balance a positive force, though does a nice job of laying out the tremendous productive success Moses brought to New York.
However, the normative review is the least important part of the book. Caro does his best work when he explains the means by which Moses obtained, kept, and deployed his power. Caro resists the temptation to blithely describe Moses as a tyrant and instead meticulously lays out precisely how Moses maintained power that undoubtedly no one in a Democratic society was ever meant to posses. These methods include:
+ Drafting legislation, prior to even occupying office, at the state level that permitted him to obtain and deploy authority in a way that not a single legislator intended
+ Lying, repeatedly and specifically, to get projects funded and started, knowing that politicians could not very well stop a project half way thru (oddly this works for 40+ years)
+ Forming authorities, unaccountable to government, which generated income that could not be redistributed, and then writing detailed bond covenants that effectively placed these agencies outside of the purview of elected officials
+ Systems of patronage that effectively amounted to bribing the better part of the engineering, construction, architecture, permitting, and political community in New York
+ His tremendous productive capacity
+ Converting the press, for the better part of his forty year reign, into his mouthpiece and using a combination of intimidation and misinformation to discredit any reformer trying to criticize him
+ Terrifying bullying and destruction of lives and careers, and with it the reputation and justifiable fear that anyone crossing Moses would quickly be out of a job or worse
Through these and more methods, Moses remained unaccountable to governors, mayors, public servants, and in effect the public itself for almost half the twentieth century, while he went about designing and building the most important elements of one of the most important cities in the world.
If it took a Moses to do these things, it's hard to believe anyone but a Caro could have ever researched and told the story correctly.
I'll close by saying, after almost 12,000 pages of text, the book was so riveting that I proceeded to read about one hundred pages of footnotes, interview summaries, and author comments which themselves could be published as a book and rate among the best books I've ever read.
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