I'm a little less than halfway through The Power Broker. It's a riveting read, especially as a New Yorker (quite possibly living in housing built by him!). I suppose I haven't quite gotten to the part where Moses goes full corrupt. From what I've read so far, he seemed utterly vicious, sneaky and deceptive, but also ridiculously competent. Anybody who's had to sit in committees and meetings spinning their wheels, hearing excuses on why stuff can't be done, will likely find something appealing about Moses' sheer ability to get shit done. It'll be interesting to see how that opinion gets revised as the book goes on.
I found it particularly amusing how Moses—"the best bill drafter in Albany" as Caro dubs him—was able to write bills that gave him far more power than the politicians who passed them expected. Indeed one part where he referenced a niche definition of appropriation in an old 19th century bill felt almost akin to return oriented programming!
The triumph of Jones Beach is probably still fresh in your mind. But don't worry, you'll find plenty to dislike about him by the end. This a reason we try not to give people that much power.
I'm curious: how annoyed are you friends at you for not being able to shut up about Robert Moses? I imagine covid is saving them from the brunt of that. For me, it lasted at least a couple of months after finishing the book.
I just finished The World That Moses Built documentary on Vimeo. It's low quality but the only place I could find it. It's my second time watching. Moses was a fascinating man in a fascinating city. https://vimeo.com/340060890
The article you quote mostly concludes that it was probably a correct assertion. While the Moses parkways were certainly based on older ones they were found to also have substantially lower bridge clearances than the ones they imitated.
To be honest, what I find more confusing is that nearly a century later we still cling to the parkways being for no commercial traffic. It wouldn’t be all that radical to, whenever a bridge is up for replacement, replace it with a bridge that does meet Interstate clearance standards, and it would provide a less chokepointy system for trucks and take them off local roads, where they have a worse impact. The days of the bucolic parkway have long passed and they are all heavy commuter routes now.
Oh. No. The bridge clearance on the LI parkways was _very definitely_ intentional, but really aimed at preventing them from being used by commercial truck traffic rather than busses. Local sources for it are legion and predate Caro's book by at least a decade. That's also the reason for the tight turns at exits. A car or minibus can usually negotiate those without difficulty (assuming the driver is paying attention), but they're impossible for tractor-trailers.
I recently finished the audiobooks for The Years of Lyndon Johnson. It was 14 months of on-and-off routine listening.
The thing about these books is not only that they're about a famous person, but that they also are about a person that left a huge paper trail, was extremely social, and died young, leaving lots of people who remembered Johnson and were eventually willing to tell the unflattering stories of his youth. In this way it would stand alone as an incredible literary or investigative portrait of a person. The fact that it covers the central political developments of the United States in the 20th Century is just icing on the cake.
It was very important to him that they be accessible for further research:
Louise Mirrer, the president of the historical society, made a generous offer and said a few magical words that clinched the deal. At a dinner with the Caros a few nights later, she elaborated: The papers would be processed quickly, made part of a permanent, rotating Caro exhibit and be easily available to future scholars in a dedicated study area — a stipulation dear to a man who had been told too often in his research that so-and-so’s papers were unavailable.
I can't begin to imagine how much treasure there is to be found in there. Each of his mini-biographies (readers will know what I'm talking about)* probably have a book each worth of interviews and research behind them. I read once that he lamented the lack of any good books on Robert Moses's mentor, Belle Moskowitz; he might posthumously bring such a work to light. He had to cut his chapter on Jane Jacobs from the Power Broker. If that didn't make it, I can only imagine what else didn't. He's conducted thousands of interviews in his lifetime. There are large swaths of the history of government in 20th-Century America that will be preserved thanks to him.
* For the record, my personal favorite is Al Smith.
I love seeing the Caro fans all gathered together, however few the numbers are. I read power broker about 8 years ago and have since read all his other books and it's wild the degree to which they influence my view of the world.
Today is Sunday, and I am casually browsing through Hackernews and I find this article that seems to be talking about one of my favourite authors, Kurt.
It looks too long, the first question that comes to my mind on this sleepy day is whether this is worth it. A lot of these tend to be self wound articles, but I start reading and interest develops slowly but surely. Before you know it I am through reading and starting to wonder, how did I read this as a whole and how great this was. May be this was even small and some more of it wouldn't have hurt.
Thank you for posting this. This article gives great insight into the thought and the narrative behind these great authors. I would be looking forward to reading The Power Broker and the LBJ series. As always, reading about Kurt or his work is always fascinating.
Yes, he tells the story about the time and context so well that you don't need any background knowledge. All his books are about people and power, which I think anyone can learn from.
For those who have read The Power Broker... how do you stand to hold it?
I bought the paper book after reading another one of these threads on HN, but it's so large that it makes my hands sore to hold it (or my neck if I lay it on my lap to read). Since there's no ebook version, I wonder how you all manage to get through a tome like this.
Caro's anecdote about how he persuaded Lyndon's brother to open up, in the re-creation of their childhood home, has stuck with me for years and almost feels like a parable.
Readit News
One area that appears to have come under attack is Caro's accusation that Moses deliberately lowered the bridge heights: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-09/robert-mo...
I found it particularly amusing how Moses—"the best bill drafter in Albany" as Caro dubs him—was able to write bills that gave him far more power than the politicians who passed them expected. Indeed one part where he referenced a niche definition of appropriation in an old 19th century bill felt almost akin to return oriented programming!
I'm curious: how annoyed are you friends at you for not being able to shut up about Robert Moses? I imagine covid is saving them from the brunt of that. For me, it lasted at least a couple of months after finishing the book.
To be honest, what I find more confusing is that nearly a century later we still cling to the parkways being for no commercial traffic. It wouldn’t be all that radical to, whenever a bridge is up for replacement, replace it with a bridge that does meet Interstate clearance standards, and it would provide a less chokepointy system for trucks and take them off local roads, where they have a worse impact. The days of the bucolic parkway have long passed and they are all heavy commuter routes now.
Deleted Comment
The thing about these books is not only that they're about a famous person, but that they also are about a person that left a huge paper trail, was extremely social, and died young, leaving lots of people who remembered Johnson and were eventually willing to tell the unflattering stories of his youth. In this way it would stand alone as an incredible literary or investigative portrait of a person. The fact that it covers the central political developments of the United States in the 20th Century is just icing on the cake.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/08/nyregion/robert-caro-arch...
It was very important to him that they be accessible for further research:
Louise Mirrer, the president of the historical society, made a generous offer and said a few magical words that clinched the deal. At a dinner with the Caros a few nights later, she elaborated: The papers would be processed quickly, made part of a permanent, rotating Caro exhibit and be easily available to future scholars in a dedicated study area — a stipulation dear to a man who had been told too often in his research that so-and-so’s papers were unavailable.
I can't begin to imagine how much treasure there is to be found in there. Each of his mini-biographies (readers will know what I'm talking about)* probably have a book each worth of interviews and research behind them. I read once that he lamented the lack of any good books on Robert Moses's mentor, Belle Moskowitz; he might posthumously bring such a work to light. He had to cut his chapter on Jane Jacobs from the Power Broker. If that didn't make it, I can only imagine what else didn't. He's conducted thousands of interviews in his lifetime. There are large swaths of the history of government in 20th-Century America that will be preserved thanks to him.
* For the record, my personal favorite is Al Smith.
It looks too long, the first question that comes to my mind on this sleepy day is whether this is worth it. A lot of these tend to be self wound articles, but I start reading and interest develops slowly but surely. Before you know it I am through reading and starting to wonder, how did I read this as a whole and how great this was. May be this was even small and some more of it wouldn't have hurt.
Thank you for posting this. This article gives great insight into the thought and the narrative behind these great authors. I would be looking forward to reading The Power Broker and the LBJ series. As always, reading about Kurt or his work is always fascinating.
When you say you "casually browse through HN," may I ask how you're doing that and how a "back issue" post like this comes to your attention? Thanks.
The only probem is that once you read him, you're spoiled. Nobody else really compares to his force of writing and depth of research.
-James Boswell's Life of Samuel Johnson
-Carl Sandburgs 3 or 4 volume biography of Lincoln.
- Isaac Deutscher's massive biography of Trotsky.(The Prophet).
-Duff Cooper's Talleyrand.
-Tom Cliffs 3 volume biography of Lenin.
- William Taubman biographies of Khrushchev and Gorbachev.
-William Manchester biography of General MacArthur.(American Caesar)
-Barbara Tuchman biography of General Stilwell. (Stillwell and the American Experience in China.)
-Anthony Burgess, Biography of Shakespeare.
I bought the paper book after reading another one of these threads on HN, but it's so large that it makes my hands sore to hold it (or my neck if I lay it on my lap to read). Since there's no ebook version, I wonder how you all manage to get through a tome like this.