Comments on: Heights History: Nabe vs Robert Moses

By: Jose Ruiz

Jose Ruiz — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:28:37 +0000

Where can I view pictures of the construction of the BQE? I am mostly interested in the the construction phase near Greenpoint. I have read that ovr 300 homes were demolished in order to build part of the BQE.

By: Toby

Toby — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 06:27:30 +0000

Nobody has mentioned the irony that Moses built all these roads, but never learned how to drive.

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:31:22 +0000

Thanks, boy genius. That project is not, as far as I can tell, planned by DOT as a capital project in the near future. Some work is planned in the vicinty of Cadman Plaza, though I suspect that’s a continuation of the work currently underway by Tillary Street.

http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bridges/currproj.html

By: Nicolo Macchiavelli

Nicolo Macchiavelli — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 23:40:26 +0000

Like my nom de plume, Moses’ greatest contribution was in the exercise of power not in the relative wisdom or stupidity of what he did. In retrospect a lot of it looks stupid but we are looking at it from an urban life advocacy perspective. Clearly he shifted real estate value from the urban core to the suburbs and exurbs. The BQE example above basically transferred value from Brooklyn to Staten Island and Jersey. Political power tranferred with the real estate value so that today the suburbs exercise and control the government of New York State.

Now, as many of Moses’ projects reach the end of their useful life power must again be exercised. Despite knowing a lot more about the effects of these transportation projects today there is an additionally more complex political system because of the transfer of power out of the city.

The same corridor referenced above (BQE-Gowanus-Prospect-Belt-Verrezano Approach) is in desperate need of replacement. All of Brooklyn wants to tunnel it. Tunneling it allows the city to recoup the economic use of the enormous space taken from the city to access the suburbs. Just the long term maintenance cost savings for a tunnel can justify it. But the question arises how to pay for the tunnel? A toll on the road would do the job but to push a toll through the state government will require negotiating with the suburbs.

So we are faced with a problem not only of the political system selecting a really good plan to rebuild Moses’ really bad plan but of who and how will it be paid for. Given the dispersal of power in the burbs and Staten Island I am very pessimistic for a positive plan.

Also, whatever plan is worked will require a long time to make it happen. The city has further weakened itself in this regard by forcing its political class to live by the entirely standards of Rich Kid Ron Lauder and the term limitations he bought and paid for. The state and suburban politicians, without the burden of term limitations, are much more capable of positioning themselves in this power struggle.

By: bigmissfrenchie

bigmissfrenchie — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:46:37 +0000

Robert Moses was not a horrible man; he actually did some really great things, including building Jones Beach and the 1939 World’s Fair. But his own absolute power–he answered to no one on the city or state level–got the better of him. By the time the ’60s rolled around, his 1930s utopian ideal of a “Futurama” dominated by the automobile had obviously clouded his better judgment. Finally, Jane Jacobs the the people of Greenwich Village were the ones to topple him from his throne. I think Frances Perkins pretty much summed him up in her famous quote, “he loves the public but hates people”.

By: boy genius

boy genius — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:32:45 +0000

from http://www.nycroads.com/roads/brooklyn-queens/
“The state recently undertook studies for rehabilitation alternatives on the cantilevered section of the BQE through Brooklyn Heights. Reconstruction of the cantilevered section is expected to begin in 2007″

By: anon

anon — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 21:28:34 +0000

what a horrible man. he was certainly a horrible urban planner who wanted nothing more than segregating the upper class from the lower class. To me, he was a destroyer of land. Embarrasing to say the least.

PS: went to architecture school with his great great granddaughter. She dropped out after the 2nd semester. the legacy cannot live on.

By: Greg

Greg — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:57:40 +0000

Where can I get more information about the planned reconstruction of the promenade section of the BQE? I searched the DOT web site, but didn’t turn anything up.

By: Homer Fink

Homer Fink — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:22:29 +0000

Yeah, but poetic no? Better than “fishing villages”.

By: pete

pete — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 19:38:27 +0000

‘shorefront towns’? thats a new one. sometimes called revisionist history