Reformers with no political base must beg introductions to officials who resent the visit

Evidence

Getting in to see these officials was never easy. Unless Moskowitz or James knew the official personally, Moses would first have to ask them to speak to some official they knew who did. Then that official would ask the other to see Moses. When the time came for his appointment, he would often be kept waiting—since he was surely among the least important of visitors—in City Hall anterooms, eyed by secretaries who could gauge his unimportance by the length of time their bosses kept him waiting. And when they finally ushered him in, Moses would know that he was talking to a man who regarded the talk only as an irritation. Yet he never stopped trying—and he never stopped hoping. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 368