Moses, Robert

Moses, Robert, 1888–1981, U.S. public official, b. New Haven, Conn. He was appointed (1919) by Alfred E. Smith to the committee to study and revamp New York state government machinery, became (1924) chairman of the state council of parks, and served (1927–28) as New York secretary of state until a disagreement with Gov. Franklin Delano Roosevelt forced him from that position. In 1933 he declined the Fusion nomination for mayor of New York City, and in 1934 he was, as Republican candidate for governor, defeated by Herbert H. Lehman. As New York City park commissioner (1934–60) and head of the Triborough Bridge and New York City Tunnel Authority (1946–68), as well as in other municipal offices, Moses was responsible for reorganizing the department of parks and for planning new and improved highways, parks, bridges, and beaches. His works include Working for People (1956).

Bibliography

See R. A. Caro, The Power Broker (1974).

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Moses, Robert

(born Dec. 18, 1888, New Haven, Conn., U.S.—died July 29, 1981, West Islip, N.Y.) U.S. public official. He began his long career in public service in New York City's bureau of municipal research. In 1919 Gov. Alfred E. Smith appointed him chief of staff of the New York state reconstruction commission and, in 1924, head of both the New York and Long Island state park commissions. For 40 years in these and related positions, Moses supervised the vast expansion of the park system and the construction of numerous roads, bridges, tunnels, and housing projects in and around the city, reshaping it on a grand scale in often controversial ways.

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Moses, Robert (1889–1981) public administrator; born in New Haven, Conn. Independently wealthy (he seldom accepted any salary), he was educated at Yale, Oxford, and Columbia Universities as a political scientist. He began his government career in New York City's Bureau of Municipal Research (1913) with an attempt to reform the civil service along the lines of his graduate thesis. In 1919 he became chief of staff of New York State's reconstruction commission under Governor Al Smith, who would long be his chief sponsor. In 1924 he was appointed head of both the New York State Council of Parks and the Long Island State Park Commission; using these and numerous other positions—in particular, New York City Parks commissioner (1934–60) and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel authorities (1934–68)—he radically changed the city and its environs, creating a system of parkways to get New Yorkers to the outskirts, to Jones Beach (his pet project), and to the many state parks (which he also set up); by the end of his career he was credited with building 416 miles of parkway, 13 major bridges, and 658 playgrounds as well as setting aside over 2,000,000 acres of parkland. He did not succeed at everything; he was soundly defeated in his one bid for public office, when he ran as the Republican candidate for governor (1934); and he lost out in his efforts to stop Joseph Papp from performing Shakespeare in Central Park (1959). By the time of his last major project, the New York World's Fair (1964–68), he had fallen into disfavor with many other social thinkers and urban planners because his approach had so often involved razing entire neighborhoods and laying down tons of concrete. Autocratic by temperament and in his operations, he spent his last years defending his achievements, but even his critics agreed that his impact had been irreversible and unique.