Robert Moses and the Modern City

It's been a while since the NeatEngine updated his blog. He's been quite busy lately (going to the opera, visiting museums, etc. - not to mention work). But today's visit to the Queens Museum of Art with "Papa Engine" was as good a time as ever to get back into the swing of things. In fact, the same day the NeatEngine and dad visit the QMA, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall was there too. (She must have known we were coming.)

Before we begin discussing, QMA's fabulous exhibit "Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Road to Recreation," let me say that the NeatEngine absolutely LOVES Queens! Not only is it the most ethnically diverse county in the United States, but it is also home to the NeatEngine's sweetheart.

Now, back to Robert Moses. Any study of 20th century New York must include Robert Caro's 1974 Pulibzer Prize-winning biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. This 1200 page biography is a reviting page-turner. After I read it and watched PBS's 1999 series, New York: A Documentary, I became a bit of a "New York history-buff" - especially when it comes to 19th/20th century New York history. QMA's exhibit on Robert Moses is one of a three part exhibit and in the coming weeks, I look forward to visiting Robert Moses and the Modern City: Remaking the Metropolis at The Museum of the City of New York and Robert Moses and the Modern City: Slum Clearance and the Superblock Solution at the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Gallery at Columbia University as well as a ton of lectures, tours and other related events.

In addition to seeing the Moses exhibit at QMA, "Papa Engine" and son enjoyed the Panaroma of the City of New York (where else can you walk around New York's 5 boroughs in 5 minutes?), eating free apetizers at the Erasing Borders: Indian Artists in the American Diaspora, the QMA's collection of memorabilia, photography and video from the 1939/40 and 1964/65 New York World's Fairs as well as taking a picture in front of the Unisphere at Flushing Meadows Corona Park:

From 2007-02-04

Afterwards, NeatEngine purchased Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York and got one of the book's editors Hilary Ballon to autograph it! (Unfortunately, we missed Kenneth Jackson.)

[Robin Pogrebin has an article of the exhibit in The New York Times. Jill Priluck has a great post (along with - at latest count - 44 comments) in Gothamist about the exhibits and the ongoing controversy surrounding Moses and the people that have chronicled his life. ]

It seems to me that many of these arguments regarding Moses and his legacy (whether it is good or bad) sees history from two very different perspectives. One is history from above - namely, Caro's Moses fitting the “great man” theory of history. The other is a history from below - i.e., Jackson's Moses as a sympton or symbol of the era. I think both perspectives are equally valid. In regard to this Caro-Jackson bout as touted in Matthew Schuerman's article, "Robert Moses Returns: Power Broker Spurs Caro-Jackson Bout" in the New York Observer is it really fair of us to view the controversy as a "face-off between two great chroniclers of New York?" (Or perhaps we New Yorkers just love a good fight?)