Comments on: The Power of Moses: Please Wield Responsibly http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/02/14/the-power-of-moses-please-wield-responsibly/ Covering the New York City Streets Renaissance Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:07:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Nicolo Macchiavelli http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/02/14/the-power-of-moses-please-wield-responsibly/comment-page-1/#comment-28983 Nicolo Macchiavelli Thu, 15 Feb 2007 01:35:44 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/02/14/the-power-of-moses-please-wield-responsibly/#comment-28983 Not for nothing, Moses had nothing to do with Port Authority except as an antagonist and rival. Is it a public authority? Yes. Is the TBTA also? Yes. But does that mean that Moses had anything to do with PA? I don't think so. I think that is called the "post hoc fallacy". Not for nothing, Moses had nothing to do with Port Authority except as an antagonist and rival. Is it a public authority? Yes. Is the TBTA also?
Yes. But does that mean that Moses had anything to do with PA? I don’t think so. I think that is called the “post hoc fallacy”.

]]> By: Angus Grieve-Smith http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/02/14/the-power-of-moses-please-wield-responsibly/comment-page-1/#comment-28975 Angus Grieve-Smith Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:52:31 +0000 http://www.streetsblog.org/2007/02/14/the-power-of-moses-please-wield-responsibly/#comment-28975 The thing that always amazed me in <i>The Power Broker</i> was that Moses was so cozily entrenched in his authorities that it took not one but two Rockefeller brothers to bring him down. If Nelson Rockefeller's brother David didn't just happen to be the CEO of Chase Bank, the bondholder for the TBTA, Moses might have remained in power until he died, and possibly even passed it on to a successor who could be building higways today. Randolph doesn't mention the state's Public Authorities Control Board, which is the only real check on the power of these authorities. Recently, when Speaker Silver has used his seat on the board to rein in one of them (usually the EDC at this point), it's been framed by the media as "the fate of the project hinges on the nod of one man." Yeah, only because all the rest have given up responsibility over it. These things are creepy and undemocratic, but nobody seems to be willing or able to get rid of them. The thing that always amazed me in The Power Broker was that Moses was so cozily entrenched in his authorities that it took not one but two Rockefeller brothers to bring him down. If Nelson Rockefeller’s brother David didn’t just happen to be the CEO of Chase Bank, the bondholder for the TBTA, Moses might have remained in power until he died, and possibly even passed it on to a successor who could be building higways today.

Randolph doesn’t mention the state’s Public Authorities Control Board, which is the only real check on the power of these authorities. Recently, when Speaker Silver has used his seat on the board to rein in one of them (usually the EDC at this point), it’s been framed by the media as “the fate of the project hinges on the nod of one man.” Yeah, only because all the rest have given up responsibility over it.

These things are creepy and undemocratic, but nobody seems to be willing or able to get rid of them.

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