Moses held secret veto power over state contracts for twenty years

Evidence

The fear in which Moses was held because of these factors was intensified by his memory. Cross him once, politicians said, and he would never forget. And if he ever got the chance for revenge, no consideration would dilute his venom. For a twenty-year period that did not end until 1968, Moses was given by the State Department of Public Works a secret veto power over the awarding of all state contracts for public works in the New York metropolitan area. No engineer who had ever forcefully and openly disagreed with a Moses opinion ever received even one of the thousands of contracts involved. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 79

Categorization

• SEED: Angle on how ‘informal’ or secret veto powers concentrate in individuals who never face electoral check.