The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

“Yet, despite their efforts to make clear the difference between themselves and the newcomers, they realized that non-Jews were lumping them all together, taking the behavior of the newcomers as the stereotype by which they thought of all Jews.”

The older generations of Jewish Americans are horrified that their Christian neighbors would associate them with the poor immigrants who have recently arrived from Europe. Though the older generations view themselves as Americans, Christians will always consider them Jewish first and foremost. This highlights how antisemitism factors into social and racial dynamics, as some people never feel that Jewish people belong.

“Bob Moses was one applicant for whom a place was waiting, since his mother was a cousin of one of the Bureau’s trustees.”

Moses’s great plan for reforming the government involves subjecting every government employee to stringent tests to ensure that they are capable. When it comes to Moses himself securing a job, however, he relies on nepotism. Moses may be qualified for this job, but he benefits from family connections more than his interview or his resume. He does not hold himself to the same standards he imposes on others.

“Moses and Smith came to public service not merely out of different backgrounds, but with different attitudes and for different reasons.”

Moses and Smith have a close friendship, but their different lived experiences foreshadow their different future beliefs. At this time, they share a desire to help the poor and helpless. Moses has no personal experience with poverty, though, and as he drifts further from Smith, he actively discriminates against the poor in a way that Smith never could. Their similar positions belie their different attitudes and different reasons, which slowly become more pronounced over the course of the book.

“Bob Moses had learned what was needed to make dreams become realities. He had learned the lesson of power.”

Moses’s early failures crush his idealism. He is shown the effects of true power, and he covets it for himself. At first, he craves power to implement changes in the world. Eventually, he craves power for its own sake. This is Moses’s first taste of an addiction that will dictate the rest of his life.

“Moses’ lionization in the press had a practical benefit. It insured that he would be allowed to finish the job he had started. No one would dare stop it now.”

Early in his career, Moses comes to realize the importance of his public persona. Even if the public persona is not wholly true or representative, it can allow him to force through projects that might otherwise fail. He cultivates his public image so carefully because it is another tool, one that is just as important as his funds or his team of engineers.

“Al Smith was bitter over the anti-Catholic prejudice that had marked the campaign.”

Moses tries to distance himself from his Jewish roots in his pursuit of power and influence. He believes that the prejudice faced by Smith validates his difficult relationship with Judaism; if a Catholic man suffers such prejudice, Moses reasons, then a Jewish man will suffer just as much. Al Smith’s struggles inform Moses’s desire to present himself as a typical Protestant American while also revealing the prejudice that exists in American society.

“Triborough was really not a bridge at all, but four bridges which, together with 13,500 feet of broad viaducts, would link together three boroughs and two islands.”

The Triborough Bridge—named so because it connects the three boroughs of The Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan—is more than just a bridge, represented here through the reality that it is four bridges. However, it also takes on greater significance than its physical function. It is the cornerstone of Moses’s empire and the means through which he secures much of his funding. The Triborough Bridge is a potent symbol of Moses’s grandiose power, knitting together his web of influence and connections into a single unified form: Robert Moses.

“Robert Moses had succeeded in eradicating every trace of the spiritual home of the man who had publicly humiliated Alfred E. Smith.”

In the press, Moses is presented as a tireless public servant who exists solely to give parks to the public. In reality, however, his motivations are far more individualistic. He seeks revenge against people who have wronged him, and in particular, he seeks revenge against anyone who insults Al Smith. Here, he demolishes the Jimmy Walker Casino, which was housed in an 1864 building designed by Calvert Vaux, one of Central Park’s co-designers, to spite Jimmy Walker for betraying Smith.

“They made him a myth. And a man who had to go to the electorate couldn’t fire a myth. He [Moses] was too big to fire.”

The press is responsible for creating the myth of Moses. They provide him with one of his most potent resources; his quasi-mythological image is a suit of armor that can deflect any criticism. Each positive article printed about Moses adds to his arsenal, providing him with a stock of evidence needed whenever anyone questions his actions. Unwittingly, the press only adds to Moses’s power. In turn, he continues to manipulate the press to get what he wants.

“And then, Windels says, Moses told him confidentially that while heating plants at the other swimming pools kept the water at a comfortable seventy degrees, at the Thomas Jefferson Pool, the water was left unheated, so that its temperature, while not cold enough to bother white swimmers, would deter any ‘colored’ people who happened to enter it once from returning.”

The myth of Moses is that of a government worker who strives to improve the lives of the poor and disenfranchised. The Power Broker uncovers Moses’s racist and discriminatory practices that sought to deny access to broad parts of the city and its infrastructure to poor people and people of color. By the admission of those who knew and worked alongside Moses, he was explicitly racist.

“That’s a slender reed to lean on, Bob.”

Smith learns about the fickleness of public support during his failed political campaigns. He issues a warning to Moses, his protegee, advising him not to become overreliant on his image to protect him. These words come back later in the book during Moses’s downfall; his public image crumbles, and he discovers that Smith was right all the long. Moses’s failure to listen to Smith now foreshadows his later problems.

“By the 1930’s, Robert Moses’ affairs were openly gossiped about in New York political and society circles.”

Moses and his wife Mary have a close relationship, and while he dedicates every waking hour of his day to his work, he still finds time to have numerous affairs. These affairs are as much about power as anything else. Moses does as he pleases, publicly, and challenges anyone to intervene. He turns even his romantic and domestic life into a demonstration of his power.

“One might admire the new Aquarium; one could never love it.”

Moses decides to shut down a beloved aquarium and placates the public by insisting that he will build another aquarium elsewhere. This second aquarium cannot be loved due to its very nature: it is not a public amenity. Like everything else, it is a monument to Moses’s power. The second aquarium is a manifestation of his capacity to reshape the city as he pleases. No matter how admirable the aquarium may be, its primary function is not to entertain or educate the public but to testify to Moses’s power.

“Banks are very good at collecting debts.”

During Moses’s rise to power, the banks’ ability to collect debts is beneficial. Their power adds to his, allowing them to partner together and take over New York. When Moses is challenged, however, the power of the banks becomes foreshadowing. Governor Rockefeller will use his connections with the banks to bring down Moses. With this, this aphorism is proven true, as the banks collect the debt of power that Moses takes from them.

“Tammany’s second most popular mayor crossed the border into Mexico.”

Throughout The Power Broker, corrupt public officials are rarely punished. In the case of O’Dwyer, however, the seriousness of the charges is made clear. He is so embroiled in Tammany Hall’s dishonesty that he is forced to flee the country. Caro uses the familiar image of a fugitive escaping to Mexico to highlight his culpability. Moses’s association with these figures casts his own actions in a similarly dubious light.

“In terms of size, however, Moses’ road-building program was certainly comparable to any public works feat in history. In terms of physical difficulty, his program would dwarf them all.”

The sheer scale of Moses’s work is apparent throughout the novel. Each time he acquires more power, his projects grow. Moses has the power of a dictator or a king, able to enact the largest building projects known to man. At the same time, the care and consideration given to the projects’ scale reinforces the lack of attention paid to the city’s people. The human cost of each project increases along with its scope, though Moses cares little.

“My greatest anger at him was that he didn’t seem to be affected by all this—people were getting up and telling these stories of hardship.”

The occasional interactions between Moses and his opponents reinforce the extent to which they operate in different worlds. Every time someone brings a court case to tried to stop him, it becomes one of the most important days in their life. To Moses, however, it is just another annoying court appointment. He is not affected by these stories of hardship because they are so common to him. He has become immune to people’s struggles.

“Authorities could be a means to immense achievement and a source of immense personal power—but only if their revenues were spent on new public works as fast as they were earned, only if, in other words, he kept building as fast as possible.”

The structure of the bonds and authorities that Moses creates perpetuate a self-sustaining cycle of egotism. Originally, the authority system was designed to raise money for individual projects. For Moses, however, the refusal to ever pay off the bonds means that the project becomes not a bridge or a tunnel but a monument to his ego. The Triborough Bridge Authority becomes a mechanism for building Moses’s legacy and inflated sense of self. In this sense, the debt can never be settled.

“Although the 1950 census had found that only 12 percent of the city’s population was nonwhite, at least 37 percent of the evictees (Moses’ own figures) and probably far more were nonwhite.”

Even Moses’s own published figures show that his government agencies disproportionately target people of color. While Moses built his reputation on public works projects, his focus on benefitting white city residents above all others belies his prejudices. The ways Moses marginalized communities of color in New York are evident in the present day, from food and transit deserts to increased asthma rates in poor neighborhoods due to the highway system.

“But it was—I don’t know—it was just never the same after that.”

The Battle for Central Park is a definitive moment in Moses’s career because, as his aides admit, nothing is quite the same after this point. The change concerns his public image, and he can no longer claim to be helping the poor against the wealthy. His parks are a vehicle for his egotism, and at last, the press is willing to confront him. He wins the battle but loses the war.

“But it wasn’t the 1940’s any more.”

A key element of Moses’s downfall is that he does not move with the times. Power isolates him from the changing nature of the world. When he tries to use his old arguments, he suddenly discovers that they are ineffectual. His arrogance and isolation, fueled by his power, prevent him from keeping pace with the world around him, and he is brought down by his refusal to accept that there is a world outside of himself.

“In fact, he was sure Nelson liked him—liked him and admired him.”

Approaching the end of his career, Moses buys into his own delusion. He convinces himself that Governor Rockefeller likes him because he cannot bring himself to entertain the alternative. To admit that Rockefeller dislikes him would be to admit that there is a level of social elite beyond his grasp and his power is fallible. Moses is certain that Rockefeller likes and admires him because anything else is a challenge to his massive ego.

“Moses appears to have had no doubt that the Governor would keep his promise.”

Moses’s hubris endures until the end when the promises made to him by the governor are revealed to be empty. The tables have turned, and now, he is made to look naïve, an ironic inversion of the many times he manipulated and lied to other people. Moses never wanted to believe that he might fall victim to the same tricks. He remains beholden to his ego right as his power collapses in front of him, making him similar to characters in Greek tragedies.