
He amassed a great deal of power, the center of which was the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. I used to walk under this bridge in Astoria Park. Moses was the first guy to figure out that you didn't actually have to stop collecting tolls when the construction bonds were paid off. The money collected eventually was the largest amount in the state, and since he could use it to build almost anything, he managed to eventually get himself appointed to twelve different jobs (including keeping his original parks job). But when he started working on Title 1 housing (projects), the cracks started to show. He was overextended. The "friends" who got "favors" on the project not only were out of control, but they never actually got around to building anything. As Moses aged, his friends in the newspaper publishing business no longer protected his reputation as well as they once had, but also he became more tune-deaf to what the public wanted, and stayed stubbornly blind to counter-ideas such as public transportation. Eventually, a combination of bad work on Title 1, good work by newspaper reporters, and the election of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, managed to oust the power-monger Robert Moses.
I wish Mr. Caro had used fewer nicknames for the men involved (such as calling La Guardia "The Little Flower.") It's not only cutesy, but in the intervening 39 years since this book was published, a lot of those nicknames are no longer commonly known, so at times it did make it hard to understand who he was talking about. My biggest complaint was of course the length. But not as much as you would think. This book did win the Pulitzer Prize for a reason. There were occasional minor repetitions--but mostly those were to remind us of people and events that happened hundreds of pages ago. He is a little heavy-handed with descriptions but they greatly help paint the picture of events. And he does go into great detail on a lot of projects. But the detail is necessary, and the primary reason for the massive length of the book, was Moses's long life, indefatigable energy, stunning list of accomplishments, and towering persona. As long as this book was, I thoroughly enjoyed it. But you must be in it for the long haul. As good a reader as I am, I read this book for more than five weeks. But I'm glad I did.
I bought this book at B&N.
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