On July 29, 1981 Robert Moses died. Though that was almost three decades ago, sometimes it feels as though he is still alive. Today the intellectual battle between the heirs of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs is still being fought at a fevered pitch and perhaps the battle rages with a level of intensity not seen for some years.
In a perverse way, preservationists owe Moses a debt of gratitude. It was Moses projects that helped stir the flames of preservation in Greenwich Village and Brooklyn Heights. Without his excesses it is likely that the civic gentry and the polite civic leaders of the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s would not have been incited to take action. It took a lot to rile them up but Moses was up to the challenge. Time and again the man inciting them was Robert Moses. Having first enraged those at the grassroots, it only took a little longer for him to rile those on the boards of citywide civic organizations. Moses helped unite a growing array of New Yorkers against him. In a very real way, New York’s landmarks law—the result of years of efforts long predating the demolition of Pennsylvania Station—was a response to both what Moses did and larger societal trends he came to personify. Having a villain who relishes his role as their enemy is a true gift for any nascent movement.
Recent efforts to rehabilitate Moses emphasize the ends he produced and not the means by which they were accomplished. Those means are largely responsible for his need of rehabilitation. On this, the anniversary of his death, we should all take a moment to reflect on the Moses legacy. Those new to the subject of Moses have a wonderful array of resources to consult to study the man and to reach their own conclusions. Such a course of self study needs to begin with Caro’s classic, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York and should include Moses’ own lesser known work: Public Works: A Dangerous Trade. Next on the reading list is Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York, a publication viewed by some as an effort to rehabilitate the Moses Legacy. Two new additions round out this reading list: Anthony Flint’s Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took on New York’s Master Builder and 
Transformed the American City and most recent of all, Roberta Gratz’s new publication: The Battle for Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs. Those particularly interested in the story of Robert Moses and preservation in New York should turn to this author’s work, Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks.
Do your homework and draw your own conclusion. No matter how you come down on the Moses legacy you will have to agree that he is a man of such import to New York City that it is worth devoting more than a moment to reflect on him, his legacy, and the ongoing fascination this city has for him–either as villain or maligned civic great. 
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