Moses, Rockefeller, and Fire Island

A true New York story

Originally Published in City Journal

In 1962, two men vied for power in New York State. The senior was legendary power broker Robert Moses. Moses had helped rewrite the New York State Constitution back in the 1920s under Governor Al Smith. Arrogant and imperious, he created and controlled numerous autonomous public authorities that enabled him to build projects with little or no opposition. Among Moses’s works was an impressive display of highways, bridges, parklands, and public housing that shape the New York metropolitan area to this day. Armed with the power of his public authorities, Moses steamrolled any opposition and almost always got what he wanted. 

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