Main entry:

Caro, Robert A., author.

Title & Author:

The power broker : Robert Moses and the fall of New York / by Robert A. Caro.

Edition:

Vintage Books edition.

Publication:

New York : Vintage Books, 1975.
©1974

Description:

ix, 1246 pages, xxxiv pages of maps, 25 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Notes:
"Originally published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., in 1974."--Title page verso.
"Portions of this book originally appeared in The New Yorker."--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 1173-1177) and index.
Introduction: Wait until the evening -- Line of succession -- Robert Moses at Yale -- Home away from home -- Burning -- Age of optimism -- Curriculum changes -- Change in major -- The taste of power -- A dream -- The best bill drafter in Albany -- The majesty of law -- Robert Moses and the creature of the machine -- Driving -- Changing -- Curator of cauliflowers -- The featherduster -- The mother of accommodation -- New York City before Robert Moses -- To power in the city -- One year -- The candidate -- Order number 129 -- In the saddle -- Driving -- Changing -- Two brothers --Changing -- The warp and the loom -- "And when the last law was down ..." -- Revenge -- Monopoly -- Quid pro quo -- Leading out the regiment -- Moses and the mayors -- "RM" -- The meat ax -- One mile -- One mile (afterward) -- The highwayman -- Point of no return -- Rumors and the report of rumors -- Tavern in the town -- Late arrival -- Mustache and the bard -- Off to the fair -- Nelson -- The great fair -- Old lion, young mayor -- The last stand -- Old.
Francis Parkman Prize, 1975

Summary:

"The Power Broker" is first and foremost a brilliant multidimensional portrait of a man—an extraordinary man who, denied power within the normal framework of the democratic process, stepped outside that framework to grasp power sufficient to shape a great city and to hold sway over the very texture of millions of lives. We see how Moses began: the handsome, intellectual young heir to the world of Our Crowd, an idealist. How, rebuffed by the entrenched political establishment, he fought for the power to accomplish his ideals. How he first created a miraculous flowering of parks and parkways, playlands and beaches—and then ultimately brought down on the city the smog-choked aridity of our urban landscape, the endless miles of (never sufficient) highway, the hopeless sprawl of Long Island, the massive failures of public housing, and countless other barriers to humane living. How, inevitably, the accumulation of power became an end in itself. Robert Moses held power in the state for 44 years, through the governorships of Smith, Roosevelt, Lehman, Dewey, Harriman and Rockefeller, and in the city for 34 years, through the mayoralties of La Guardia, O'Dwyer, Impellitteri, Wagner and Lindsay, He personally conceived and carried through public works costing 27 billion dollars—he was undoubtedly America's greatest builder. This is how he built and dominated New York—before, finally, he was stripped of his reputation (by the press) and his power (by Nelson Rockefeller). But his work, and his will, had been done.

Resources:
Sample text
Contributor biographical information
Publisher description
More Info
cover art

ISBN:

0394720245 (paperback)
9780394720241 (paperback)

Subject:

Moses, Robert, 1888-1981.
City planners New York (State) New York Biography.
City planning New York (State) New York History.
City planners United States Biography.
Architects United States Biography.
Urbanistes États-Unis Biographies.
Architectes États-Unis Biographies.
Urbanistes New York (État) New York Biographies.
Corruption (in politics)
Millionaires Biography.
New York (N.Y.) History.
New York (N.Y.) Officials and employees Biography.
New York (N.Y.) Politics and government 20th century.
New York (State) Politics and government 20th century.
New York (N.Y.) Histoire.
New York (N.Y.) Administration 20e siècle.
New York (État) Politique et gouvernement 20e siècle.
New York (State) New York
New York (N.Y.) Politics and government.

Form/genre:

Biography
Biographies

Added entries:

Robert Moses and the fall of New York

Holdings:

Location: Library main 106506
Call No.: PO15659; ID:85-B16998
Status: Available