Moses would destroy a needed public work rather than let others build it
Evidence
Wrecking the Authority would have cost the city not only $58,000,000, money which would provide a lot of jobs in Depression-wracked New York, but also the tunnel, a public work badly needed in terms of Moses’ own aims—the elimination of traffic congestion in New York City. But these considerations did not deter him. If he couldn’t build the tunnel, his actions said, no one was going to build it. If he couldn’t take it over, he would destroy it. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 2595
Categorization
- APHORISMS: A stark portrait of power jealousy: if I can’t build it, no one will — a warning against letting means-lust override ends across any field.
- XREF: connects to: Moses’ motive shifted from building works to seizing power itself — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 2594; Moses needed to display superiority more than he wanted power. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 1858; Moses used up and discarded the people who served his purposes. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 2545 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Moses’ housing plan demanded whole-block demolition over rehabilitation
#exemplifies(0.85) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 2601 - Contemptuous mockery masked Moses’ demolition plans as popular sentiment
#expands(0.82) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 2886