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akaakp.bsky.social · @akaakp.bsky.social@bridge.neodb.net

Rated The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York 8/10

A phenomenal work of investigative journalism that captures the behind-the-scenes machinations s that continue shape the lives of New Yorkers every day. Moses was a schemer and an authoritarian despot who was able to capitalize on characteristic that both makes and breaks most New Yorkers—impatience. He built amazing things, usually at devastating expense.<br/><br/>The only reason I did not give this five stars is because there was some coverage that--reading this book many years after it was published--I suspect was left on the cutting room floor. Not much on the Rockaway improvements here, and not a single mention of Jane Jacobs. I will have to follow up by weeding through old Caro interviews to see where those bits went. I'd also be interested in reading some defenses of Moses, just for the sake of equal time. <br/><br/>A few other notes:<br/>1. I toggled between audible and print version in order to get through this one. Why, oh why, is this not available on Kindle? I can't imagine sitting for 60+ hours--without Audible I'd never get through an intense history like this one. But for nonfiction in particular, like to be able to refer to the book and notes as I go, and being able to search an ebook for keywords is very helpful in that respect. And also, this is not a print book that fits easily into one's purse. <br/>2. Also: This would make a freaking amazing long-form TV series, a modern day, real-world Game of Thrones. Who is sitting on the rights and why isn't it in development with HBO (or Netflix?) already? <br/>3. The Audible performance by Robertson Dean is fine, but I found it excruciatingly slow, to the point where the voice seemed distorted (perhaps a recording or download glitch?). I found it sounded much more natural when sped up 1.25x (although still a little slow; I listened at 1.5-2x).

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Published 2026-01-07 12:14 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere