The new book "Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York (W.W. Norton, $50)" pulls together essays, photographs and a catalog of planning programs that highlight the master builder’s impact on the metropolitan landscape.
Love him or hate him, Moses opened up Long Island to the masses. For years, he reigned over the Long Island State Parks Commission, a group that was responsible for creating a string of parks linked by parkways stretching from the Queens line to Montauk Point. Thirteen parkways, including the Southern State, Northern State and the Meadowbrook, were built during his tenure. Heckscher State Park, Belmont Lake State Park and Jones Beach State Park were also developed by Moses as leisure destinations for the everyman.
In 1924, Moses wrote to Gov. Alfred E. Smith, “If the residents of Nassau and Suffolk counties are not to be overrun and the people of New York City and Long Island are to be afforded recreational facilities, the park and parkway plans which have been developed must be put underway immediately.” The rest is history.
For all his achievements, Moses did not always get his way. The last bridge that Moses proposed was never executed. Plans were finally put to rest in 1973 for the Rye-Oyster Bay Bridge which would have linked Nassau and Westchester counties by a 6.5-mile toll bridge. At the time, Gov. Rockefeller cited environmental reasons for scrapping the plans.