New York: In 1927, Robert Moses became New York State Secretary of State, among several other simultaneous NY State and NY City titles he collected. At one point, Moses held twelve state and city positions simultaneously, with his main power base being head of the Triboro Bridge Authority.
From the mid–1920s through the 1960s Moses wielded massive political and administrative power over manifold mega–construction projects in New York State. He re–did Long Island with highways and bridges connecting it to Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island….
Master builder/visionary/urban planner/megalomaniac, Moses was responsible for, among other major projects:
NYC/ Long Island roadways: Northern State Parkway, Wantagh State Parkway, Southern State Parkway, Belt Parkway, Laurelton Parkway, Cross–Bronx Expressway, Brooklyn–Queens Expressway, Staten Island Expressway, Meadowbrook Parkway
Bridges: Triboro, Throgs Neck, Bronx–Whitestone, Verrazano, Henry Hudson, Marine Parkway (bridge) Niagra Falls, NY area: Robert Moses Hydro–Electric dam, Robert Moses State Parkway
A prime mover behind: Jones Beach State Park, Jacob Riis Park, Lincoln Center, Shea Stadium, Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, the UN Headquarters, Taconic State Parkway (Westchester), moving the NY Aquarium to Coney Island (Brooklyn), as well as for ten gigantic swimming pools for city dwellers.
His Cross–Bronx Expressway project, in particular, had, as one of many consequences, a major “migration” (exodus) of Jewish Bronxites primarily to Queens and Long Island.
Born 1888 to German–Jewish parents in New Haven, CT, Moses was raised secularist, and proceeded to garnish degrees from Yale, Oxford, and Columbia. At his zenith Moses had 80,000 workers under him. He died at age 93, and his funeral services were held at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church. Robert Moses was later the subject of a 1974 epic 1200–page biography The Power Broker by Robert Caro.
A champion of highways over mass transit, Moses himself never learned to drive.