Power Broker? or Apt Administrator?
I don't know how to churn out a blog daily...without really getting personal and talking about all the personal frustrations and issues that are happening in my life...
There is no rule that a blog must be written daily...nor there is a rule that dictates the size of the blog...Yes, you got it right...there is nothing much to write about today but still would like to write something about something...strange isn't it?
Ok...let me write something about Robert Moses the master builder of New York...there are a series of books about him..the prominent among which is "The Power Broker"...and a series of documentaries on NY by PBS, which I'll watch in the coming weeks.
I am always amazed by the sheer volume of works that Robert Moses (RM as he signs) has achieved in his 4 decades of life in public works. RM was officially the parks commissioner but held 12 positions as director or equal capacity during his "best" days...he transformed NY to the current status of world city by bringing in over 600 miles of roads and highways into the city and connecting the Manhattan island with the rest of the world ... I would say that the existence of NY owes a lot to RM...and one unique quality of RM is that he got a number of plans implemented ...which is the most difficult part of any planning process. I am reminded of Erik Throgmorton's essay in which a planner is carrying cart loads of blueprints of un-implemented plans for recycling as they had no better use...
Planning is a profession in which there is a lot at stake and driving consensus is next to impossible...any plan will have positive and negative implications and the objective of most plans is to minimize the negatives and potentially bargain on the positives against the gains being made. Deciding the "public interest" even in the most advanced books of the 21st century remains mystery and a golden goose chase...no one knows what it would mean and how it can be achieved... they state that there is no magic formula to get to it but are ready to criticize some one for taking a decision on others behalf. I don't support RM on all his decisions...but I admire his capacity to take decisions...which itself is very difficult to take in public domains...every one is worried about his/her reputation and no one is ready to take the responsibility if something goes wrong.
Public interest, in my opinion, is what RM decided mostly on his own...but did not explicitly state when he was making decisions. He was pictured by a lot of men as being autocratic or even dictatorial in his approach, which to me seems foolish. This reputation of his can be largely attributed to Robert Caro who was the author of the Power Broker.
I do not agree to what Caro states in his "biographical" book...he is too biased towards critics and he fails to look at the larger picture...I've read a book by RM himself, entitled "Public Works a Dangerous Trade"...he is very right in attributing that title to the book...he gives his perspective as to why he took certain decisions at that time...and why he did not...his book is not meant to counter the arguments made in the Caro's book but to present his own take on how he handled things.
Even before a senate committee he did not refute most of the charges raised against him as to being highhanded etc. In dealing with plans and people...he justified his actions based on a logic he thought was right and his vision was clear. There can be no other RM in this world and can perhaps not achieve even say 10% of what he could achieve in 20 "prime" years over a lifespan.
The more I know about RM..the more I admire him...of course I do not refute any charges brought against him...that he might have displaced over a million people while dealing with his plans..but the benefit that he accrued in this process...is far reaching and is not comparable to the "forced" sacrifices that people made in order to achieve the grand plans.
I would strongly suggest that people read the book by RM..which clearly gives a good perspective on how could he achieve what he did.!!! and probably watch the PBS video on NY ..if it is not entirely based on Caro's work...I'll publish another blog once I finish all the 7 PBS videos. Till then.....cya
This Blog is dedicated to RM...
regards
Avadhani
There is no rule that a blog must be written daily...nor there is a rule that dictates the size of the blog...Yes, you got it right...there is nothing much to write about today but still would like to write something about something...strange isn't it?
Ok...let me write something about Robert Moses the master builder of New York...there are a series of books about him..the prominent among which is "The Power Broker"...and a series of documentaries on NY by PBS, which I'll watch in the coming weeks.
I am always amazed by the sheer volume of works that Robert Moses (RM as he signs) has achieved in his 4 decades of life in public works. RM was officially the parks commissioner but held 12 positions as director or equal capacity during his "best" days...he transformed NY to the current status of world city by bringing in over 600 miles of roads and highways into the city and connecting the Manhattan island with the rest of the world ... I would say that the existence of NY owes a lot to RM...and one unique quality of RM is that he got a number of plans implemented ...which is the most difficult part of any planning process. I am reminded of Erik Throgmorton's essay in which a planner is carrying cart loads of blueprints of un-implemented plans for recycling as they had no better use...
Planning is a profession in which there is a lot at stake and driving consensus is next to impossible...any plan will have positive and negative implications and the objective of most plans is to minimize the negatives and potentially bargain on the positives against the gains being made. Deciding the "public interest" even in the most advanced books of the 21st century remains mystery and a golden goose chase...no one knows what it would mean and how it can be achieved... they state that there is no magic formula to get to it but are ready to criticize some one for taking a decision on others behalf. I don't support RM on all his decisions...but I admire his capacity to take decisions...which itself is very difficult to take in public domains...every one is worried about his/her reputation and no one is ready to take the responsibility if something goes wrong.
Public interest, in my opinion, is what RM decided mostly on his own...but did not explicitly state when he was making decisions. He was pictured by a lot of men as being autocratic or even dictatorial in his approach, which to me seems foolish. This reputation of his can be largely attributed to Robert Caro who was the author of the Power Broker.
I do not agree to what Caro states in his "biographical" book...he is too biased towards critics and he fails to look at the larger picture...I've read a book by RM himself, entitled "Public Works a Dangerous Trade"...he is very right in attributing that title to the book...he gives his perspective as to why he took certain decisions at that time...and why he did not...his book is not meant to counter the arguments made in the Caro's book but to present his own take on how he handled things.
Even before a senate committee he did not refute most of the charges raised against him as to being highhanded etc. In dealing with plans and people...he justified his actions based on a logic he thought was right and his vision was clear. There can be no other RM in this world and can perhaps not achieve even say 10% of what he could achieve in 20 "prime" years over a lifespan.
The more I know about RM..the more I admire him...of course I do not refute any charges brought against him...that he might have displaced over a million people while dealing with his plans..but the benefit that he accrued in this process...is far reaching and is not comparable to the "forced" sacrifices that people made in order to achieve the grand plans.
I would strongly suggest that people read the book by RM..which clearly gives a good perspective on how could he achieve what he did.!!! and probably watch the PBS video on NY ..if it is not entirely based on Caro's work...I'll publish another blog once I finish all the 7 PBS videos. Till then.....cya
This Blog is dedicated to RM...
regards
Avadhani
posted by Avadhani at
11:14 PM
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