Wealthy opponents of parks derided prospective visitors as city rabble
Evidence
But the outcome of the hearing was not to hinge on legalities. Smith, anxious to learn for himself the basics of both sides’ positions, conducted it informally, bantering, telling jokes, encouraging the principals as well as their attorneys to talk. And the Sultan of Sugar talked. Explaining why he didn’t want a park in East Islip, Horace Havemeyer said he feared the town would be “overrun with rabble from the city.” — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 813
Categorization
- XREF: Connects to the theme of class resentment against public access to coastal land and the elite’s self-ghettoization — parallels the middle-class-vs-poor spatial ordering dynamics in Lofland’s World of Strangers. — connects to: Landowners’ resistance made large regional parks seem financially and legally impossible — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 691; Park opposition came from wealthy estate owners protecting their private grounds — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 852; Contests over public space access are struggles over power. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 121 (+1 more)
- SEED: The quote ‘where’s a poor millionaire to go nowadays’ is a ready-made essay hook about elite spatial anxiety and public goods.
Broader Connections
- Park opposition came from wealthy estate owners protecting their private grounds
#expands(0.88) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 852 - Parks once united voters across class lines as an unopposable political issue
#complicates(0.80) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 746 - Contests over public space access are struggles over power.
#exemplifies(0.78) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 121