4 ms·

Moses didn’t want black people going to Jones Beach (his pride and joy). To prevent them from visiting he built the overpasses on the highways that go to the be

Moses didn’t want black people going to Jones Beach (his pride and joy). To prevent them from visiting he built the overpasses on the highways that go to the beach lower so that buses from the city couldn’t fit. This is a true and interesting factoid, but I don’t see how it ties back to any transit issues. Unless you think buses having access to the northern and southern state would meaningfully improve regional transit?

bobthepanda 3y ago
They are some of the fastest roads around. There are commuter express buses, but often they are restricted to the Interstate (there is one for the entirety of Long Island’s millions of people) or the arterial roads with traffic lights
- bradleyjg 3y ago
  Long Island bus has been privatized and never carried many people to begin with. They were never going to be competitive for east/west transit against the LIRR.
  - bobthepanda 3y ago
    I mean, there are also commuter buses in NYC, where the parkways make up most highway mileage. And why shouldn’t private buses be able to use the parkways either? Plenty benefit the public, like the Chinatown buses.
USB5 3y ago
Moses' career only existed to serve specific class interests. If Moses had pursued imroving public transit, he would have been out of a job.
jahewson 3y ago
It's actually not even true. It's become something of a popular myth. The original quote claimed "poor and lower-middle-class families" who in 1929 New York would have been predominantly white. That quote itself is disputed too, though it may well be accurate. Funnily enough a factoid is something that is false but sounds plausibly fact-like.
- steveBK123 3y ago
  Right If anything there are quotes and evidence of him exhibiting racism directly against Puerto Ricans, which no one in this thread mentions.. At the time most of his projects were built, African Americans were only about 5% of NYC population rather than the 20-30% peak thru today. So it’s kind of backwards looking to assume they were top of mind in his decision making either way.

bobthepanda 3y ago

They are some of the fastest roads around. There are commuter express buses, but often they are restricted to the Interstate (there is one for the entirety of Long Island’s millions of people) or the arterial roads with traffic lights

bradleyjg 3y ago
Long Island bus has been privatized and never carried many people to begin with. They were never going to be competitive for east/west transit against the LIRR.
- bobthepanda 3y ago
  I mean, there are also commuter buses in NYC, where the parkways make up most highway mileage. And why shouldn’t private buses be able to use the parkways either? Plenty benefit the public, like the Chinatown buses.

USB5 3y ago

Moses' career only existed to serve specific class interests. If Moses had pursued imroving public transit, he would have been out of a job.

jahewson 3y ago

It's actually not even true. It's become something of a popular myth. The original quote claimed "poor and lower-middle-class families" who in 1929 New York would have been predominantly white. That quote itself is disputed too, though it may well be accurate. Funnily enough a factoid is something that is false but sounds plausibly fact-like.

steveBK123 3y ago
Right If anything there are quotes and evidence of him exhibiting racism directly against Puerto Ricans, which no one in this thread mentions.. At the time most of his projects were built, African Americans were only about 5% of NYC population rather than the 20-30% peak thru today. So it’s kind of backwards looking to assume they were top of mind in his decision making either way.