Robert Moses-City Visionary

Robert Moses-New York City Visionary

Robert Moses-Civil Servant to City Father

Robert Moses was ostensibly a civil servant and a controversial figure in New York during the 1950s. He is remembered for his achievements in city planning design and infrastructure. Works that he helped see through to completion include the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Shea Stadium, two hydroelectric dams, Jones Beach State Park, 13 bridges and 35 highways. 2.5 million acres of parks in New York state where preserved on his watch.

Jones Beach Park NY

He was born in 1888 in New Haven, Connecticut, grew up in Manhattan and died in West Islip, New York, in 1981. During his life he transformed the city of New York by overseeing new highways and skyscrapers as well preserving land for urban parks. In 1913, Moses began his career at the Municipal Research Bureau in New York, helping restructure New York's Civil service and was given the post of chief of staff for the Restructuring Commission where he made his mark on government and then in 1922 he became  head of the 'Long Island State Park Commission.' where he made his mark on the design of the city and reformed the Park system. In 1933, Mayor of New York Fiorello La Guardia, invited Moses to head the city's Parks Department and the Triborough Bridge Authority where he began an ambitious building program during the Great Depression.
His controversy surrounded his approval of public housing towers, much maligned by planners and the public at large.

The Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts- A Modernist Masterpiece

Still his tenacity, vision and built achievements ultimately have left their mark on one of the greatest cities in the world for us all to see to this day. His work influenced city planning around the United States and so his impact on Urban Design is vast.

Ref @ http://www.biography.com/people/robert-moses-9416268#death-and-legacy