BOOKS
299
THE MASTER BUILDER
THE POWER BROKER : ROBERT MOSES AND THE FALL OF NEW
YORK . By
Robert Caro . Alfred
A .
Knopf.
$17.95 .
WhenJohn Lindsay first ran for the New York City mayoralty , he
campaigned against the " powerbrokers," charging that these villains–
whom he never named-were largely responsible for the city's problems.
Ro bert Caro' s monumental bu t sprawling biography of Ro bert Moses borrows
Lindsay's term and the idea behind it to argue that Moses was solely
responsible for New York City's building program between about 1930 and
1968 , that he decided how and what to build mainly to obtain more power,
and that he was therefore responsible for what Caro calls, in his subtitle, the
fall of New York . This thesis compliments Moses by accepting his own
assessment of his importance to the city, but fails to pay sufficient attention to
the role of the economic and political system within which Moses worked, and
which ultimately made his success possible .
The basis of that system is public works money , which flowed particularly
generously during the Depression and the post World War II era when Moses
built his most important projects. Pu blic works money not only produces
public works, however , it also creates jobs and profits for many people , in
construction, banking and insurance, among others . Above all , public works
money is necessary to the urban political organization, for it has no
dependable source offunds to finance election campaigns, and the day-to-day
expenditures of political parties , politicians and party workers.
To be sure, urban politics can be funded in other ways, but public works
projects are especially suitable, because they involve huge and long-term
expenditures , and because the complexity of the planning and building
process allows funds for legitimate political activities, as well as for honest and
dishonest graft , to be skimmed off the top without undue public notice .
Equally significant, the finished projects are viewed as desirable indicators of
municipal "progress" by the affluent voters , who will therefore support the
politicians that take credit for building them , and who will not object to some
corruption as long as they are built .
Carq's bitter celebration of Moses' abilities is understandable, for the
man was extraordinary , brilliant to the point of genius, with inexhaustible
energy, a strong personality , and a stubborn vision: to create a comprehensive
park and highway network for the city. A driven man, he was also vindictive ,
manipulative , and unscrupulous ; a bully prepared to use immoral means to
satisfy his vision wherever necessary .
