Gothamist: The Moses Revisionists vs. Caro, Part MCL

Jeremy

Tue, 08 May 2007 13:13:05 -0500

Wow, it's like this was made for me and this thread: Times Square's economy is bigger than Panama's and Bolivia's put together. No Typekey, so look at am ny's site.

Jeremy

Tue, 08 May 2007 10:26:14 -0500

perryair, NYC reinvents itself all the time, and has the economic power of a Detroit in a few blocks of Midtown. Detroit is and was a one-trick pony. No city is immune from anything, but NYC is as immune as a city can get from the kind of total uselessness suffered by Detroit. Detroit will only come back because US population growth will push people to seek out its retardedly cheap housing. It was a premature city built on protectionism. NYC was built on the opposite.

anonymous

Mon, 07 May 2007 22:39:55 -0500

Kenneth Jackson, good as much of his work is, has become a shill for Columbia's expansion into Harlem, which requires a certain Mosesesque outlook on planning (or injudicious use recent shifts in eminent domain). Hillary Ballon too. In addition, I agree with the first commenter that Jackson has always seemed to have an ax to grind when it comes to Caro. Maybe it's an inferiority complex. 1246+ pages can certainly be intimidating.

also

Mon, 07 May 2007 21:47:06 -0500

NJ-> statin island expressway -> brookyln to LI

matty

Mon, 07 May 2007 19:46:40 -0500

oh i see. cross bronx expressway...

matty

Mon, 07 May 2007 18:47:41 -0500

i don't live in nyc (chicago). my question is how the heck do people get to long island from NJ when driving? holland tunnel and then just drive crosstown? also if there's a fare to drive below 82nd street what is that going to do to commuters and interstate traffic?

schmod

Mon, 07 May 2007 18:45:15 -0500

Yes, but are we hopping on the right bandwagon right now? You can only build so much ultra-expensive residential devleopment. I'm genuinely afraid that we're going to hit a breaking point and have nothing to fall back upon, because we've bulldozed over it.

perryair

Mon, 07 May 2007 16:48:57 -0500

NYC is also a product of its time and if you think that we're somehow immune to ever becoming like Detroit, think again. All great cities re-invent themselves to stay relevant. We just happened to hop on the right bandwagons at the right times.

Jeremy

Mon, 07 May 2007 16:13:56 -0500

No, NY isn't Detroit because it's economically significant, whereas Detroit was a product of its time, and is now economically useless. Anyway, of course I agree that Moses was the worst thing to ever happen to New York. His slum "clearances" have kept slums a permanent fixture of New York, in addition to obliterating tens of thousands of examples of native architecture. Disgusting, megalomaniacal and unforgiveable.

perryair

Mon, 07 May 2007 15:42:29 -0500

I'm amazed at how many times we as humans need to learn the same lessons over and over again. Lesson: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The only reason that New York City isn't Detroit is because we didn't have a Lomex and Mimex shoved through our city.

Tim N.

Mon, 07 May 2007 15:15:36 -0500

Prof. Jackson is a good man who is incredibly bright and loves this city down to his bones. Having said that, in this case, Caro is dead right. I'm surprised Jackson can overlook Moses's racism (and how it influenced his decisions) so blithly.

Reality Czech

Mon, 07 May 2007 15:00:23 -0500

Robert Moses was the reason the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to LA. 'nough said.

anon

Mon, 07 May 2007 14:35:24 -0500

Taking Jackson's History of NYC class at Columbia, you could see that Jackson at least at some level a small beef personally with Caro. Take that for what its worth when thinking about Jackson's criticisms...