The Battle for Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs

by Roberta Brandes Gratz

In the 1970s, New York City hit rock bottom. Crime was at its highest, the middle class exodus was in high gear, and bankruptcy loomed. Many people credit New York’s “master builder” Robert Moses with turning Gotham around, despite his brutal, undemocratic. and demolition-heavy ways.Urban critic and journalist Roberta Brandes Gratz contradicts this conventional view. New York City, Gratz argues, recovered precisely because of the waning power of Moses. His decline in the late 1960s and the drying up of big government funding for urban renewal projects allowed New York to organically regenerate according to the precepts defined by Jane Jacobs in her classic, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, and in contradiction to Moses’s urban philosophy.

As American cities face a devastating economic crisis, Jacobs’s philosophy is again vital for the redevelopment of metropolitan life. Gratz who was named as one of Planetizen’s Top 100 Urban Thinkers gives an on-the-ground account of urban renewal and community success.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, New York, Biography, Urban, Sociology, Autobiography

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much not to like about this book. It was written so poorly, I wondered about the editor. Points were made and not supported, but then she would come back to them later. She just bounced around making the whole thing lacking in cogency. But worse was Gratz's egocentrism. She starts the book with her own bio and never stops reminding us of her presence at events and diligence in writing about them. We get it; it's all about you.

The conceit that she is somehow enlightening us to the evils of Robert Moses and his legacy is ridiculous. He's already reviled and understood as someone who did terrible damage to NYC.

I managed to read most of it only because of some interesting stories of NY and the changes it's gone through. But the focus on the Village is a drag, I never spent that much time there until recently and would've liked to hear about other parts of the city that were impacted by Moses. A really frustrating book.

[Chris Ledermuller · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Jane Jacobs, and I was in San Francisco and happened by City Lights bookstore when this book beckoned in the display window.

I could polish off much of the book for the 10-hour train ride on the San Joaquin back to Los Angeles.

The train trip was pleasant. This book, though, was disappointing, especially for the relatively high price of a hardcover when it was just a few months old when purchased new in 2010.

"The Battle for Gotham" is an extended thank-you note from Roberta Brandes Gratz to Jane Jacobs, who had died four years before this book was published.

Brandes Gratz covers at length the battle that spurred mild-mannered mother Jane Jacobs into action against the New York City bureaucracy and especially Robert Moses in order to save her home in Greenwich Village. It's a story well-covered in newspaper accounts and exhaustively studied by sociologists, urban planners and like-minded academic disciplines. "The Battle for Gotham" doesn't add anything new or illuminating to knowledge already there.

The balance of the book is a "me-too" of what Jane Jacobs outlined as the constituent parts of her first and most important book, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities." Again, Brandes Gratz adds almost nothing new to what Jacobs wrote originally, and better.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Battle for Gotham is an immersive, first-hand account of the highs and lows of city planning in the second half of the twentieth century. Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, though only overlapping for a few years, are two of the most influential voices in terms of how the city is laid out the way it is today, and yet they were of completely opposing viewpoints.
I started reading this one as research on something I’m writing about historical landmark status, but it was really a fascinating account of NYC for anyone who’s from here or lives here. Like the proposed restructuring of Washington Square Park s to serve traffic rather than pedestrians and would feed into the *thankfully* unrealized Lower Manhattan Expressway. Or the proposed demolition of SoHo that inadvertently led to the influx of artists’ lofts and galleries it became known for in the 80s. Or how Moses purposefully built the bridges and tunnels leading from the city to Jones Beach too low so that public buses would be unable to travel through them, thus discouraging those who couldn’t afford their own cars from coming. Or the continued drama surrounding the Atlantic Yards Project (now known as Pacific Park). Highly recommend this for anyone interested in learning more about city planning or just wanting to learn a little more about NYC. As someone born and raised in NYC, especially nice to read this one today!

[Jessica Leight · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book consists of three intertwined strands, none of which I found very satisfying. The first is criticism of Robert Moses that is largely cribbed from Caro’s monumental biography; it didn’t seem that the author has any original research on this point. The second is excerpts from the author’s conversations with or reflections on Jane Jacobs; in some cases, she publishes almost entire conversations without editing. While I’m interested in Jane Jacobs, I don’t think reading whole paragraphs of her unedited thoughts is the best strategy for conveying more about her life and philosophy. The third strand, and the best, is the author’s own memoirs about her life in New York and her experiences around various urban renewal and preservation questions. Still, it’s not enough to make this a fully fleshed out narrative. The book proceeds slowly and in fits and starts, and it’s never clear where it’s heading.

[Mike Doyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over more than a year, I made it through maybe 100 pages of this book. I still remember how painful it was making it all the way through her first book, The Living City, more than 30 years ago. This book was no different. I tried reading it immediately after Anthony Flint's far more readable "Wrestling with Moses", on the same subject--Jane Jacobs titanic community planning battle with Robert Moses in mid-century NYC. But Gratz has a way of adding aside atop aside atop aside, until you need a road map to try to recall what her point was in the first place. She has amazing knowledge. She just has no idea how to tell an engaging story. Tied with her first book for the most boring written work I've ever read--or at least attemped to. Not worth the effort.

[Dustan Woodhouse · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure I’ve ever rated a book below 4 stars.

And I’m not sure I’d ever try and write a book in the shadow or Robert Caro, that’s a risky plan.

If this had been more focused on the authors personal journey it likely would have better reviews.

I’m not sure how I came to read this book, but in the future perhaps I’ll pay more attention to reviews in advance.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would love to see an update on this book. A lot has happened in 10 years in NYC. Looking at projects through 2 very different people is interesting. Wish she had been less biased. I think Moses was a destructive, racist asshole too, but still.

[Brielle Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you care about cities and how they actually work, this book will grab you. You see New York through real people, not just power brokers. I came across this book through book clubs, and it completely changed how I think about urban renewal and community voices.

[Carter Vaughn · Rating 5 out of 5]

You do not need to be an urban planner to enjoy this book. The writing pulls you into New York’s struggles and victories in a clear, grounded way. I found this through book clubs, and it sparked some of the best discussions I have had about cities and power.

[Elise Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book shows you why top down planning often fails real neighborhoods. The contrast between Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs feels urgent even today. I came across this book from book clubs, and it made me pay closer attention to the streets I walk every day.

[Laurel King · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy history that feels alive, you will appreciate this book. You see how ordinary people pushed back and shaped their own city. I discovered it through book clubs, and it gave me a deeper respect for community driven change.

[Logan Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will find this book thoughtful, critical, and surprisingly engaging. It does not glorify destruction in the name of progress. I came across this book from book clubs, and it helped me understand why some cities feel human while others feel cold.

[Jackson Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book challenges the idea that one powerful figure can save a city. You see how New York healed when communities gained room to breathe. I found this through book clubs, and it stayed with me long after I finished reading.

[Miles Donovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like books that question popular narratives, this one delivers. The story of Jane Jacobs feels especially relevant now. I came across this book through book clubs, and it made me rethink what real progress should look like.

[David Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will appreciate how clearly the author connects past mistakes to present day urban problems. The lessons feel practical, not abstract. I discovered this book from book clubs, and it quickly became one I recommend to others.

[pamela trigg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives you a street level view of New York’s recovery, not a polished myth. It values people over projects. I came across this book through book clubs, and it opened my eyes to how cities grow best.

[Riley Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you care about democracy, neighborhoods, and livable cities, this book matters. It shows how small scale choices can beat massive plans. I found this book through book clubs, and it led to thoughtful conversations I still think about.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot.

[Paschalis]

elibrary

[Brianna Vitali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dated, but enjoyable

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Robert Moses was the towering figure of public works in the New York of my youth. I swam at his Jones Beach with its gorgeous bathhouses and boardwalk that felt like a stroll on the deck of a luxury liner. It seems Moses shaped the entire waterfront including the crests of the waves. I was driven on his parkways (Belt to see grandma, Meadowbrook to get to Jones Beach). He shaped the 1963 World's Fair (a money loser) and eventually gained control of a half-dozen public agencies. The Moses name seemed to loom on every construction sign and cast a long shadow over even the egomaniac Governor Rockefeller. Moses' own megalomania was documented in Robert Caro's tragic biography "The Power Broker," a Shakespearian tale of genius gone wrong in which Moses is blamed for just about everything that went wrong with American cities and suburbs after WW II--misbegotten public housing, decaying public transit, numbing sprawl, traffic jams, you name it.

Jane Jacobs was his foil--an autodidactic Greenwich Village "housewife" who became a writer for Architectural Record and ultimately of "The Death and Life of American Cities," a polemic in defense of the small, spontaneous and neighborly, rather than the planned megaproject. Jacobs' book remains a classic 50 years later while Moses (despite some efforts to rehab his reputation) is largely reviled as the devil of top-down, arrogant, urban soul-sucking planning. Like Godzilla vs. Mothra, the two titans faced off in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s. The forces of Jacobs triumphed over a Moses highway scheme and today we have an intact SoHo to show for it.

Roberta Brandes Gratz grew up in a Greenwich Village neighborhood that was ripped down for urban renewal. Her family (art-appreciating owners of a dry cleaning operation) moved to Weston, Connecticut, a rural idyll that Gratz saw overrun by cookie-cutter suburbia. She found her way back to Manhattan by way of NYU, went to work on the New York Post (with Pete Hamill and Jack Newfield), discovered architecture, and later became a celebrated writer on architecture and planning. Gratz takes a personal view of the Moses vs. Jacobs debate, having lived through it at close personal range.


This is not really an urban planning book but a charming memoir of growing up in New York and its suburbs and of a young Jewish intellectual woman coming of age during an era of powerful women who really did change the world--Jacobs, Rachel Carson and Betty Friedan among them.
As I read on I deducted stars. The book becomes a repetitive recap of 1960s planning battles--stories told with more verve elsewhere. The towering personalities of both foils are curiously missing. Still I love Gratz's memoir of New York and its suburbs.

[David A-S · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Battle for Gotham is part memoir, part urban policy study specifically in NY. The Battle is between urban planner Robert Moses and urban advocate Jane Jacobs. Gratz is by no means an impartial observer. Gratz was a city reporter for a couple of decades and since then has been an advocate for Jane Jacobs-type development. The book lets you in on the behind the scenes arguments of those shaping the city and a desire to bring the discussion to the forefront.

[Noah Stacy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing. I didn't make it past the first chapter, which was shaping up as primarily autobiographical rather than an investigation of Moses or Jacobs. While I can appreciate the author's justification for this--that her own story was representative of the city's--it wasn't what I was hoping for when I picked this up.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

A prolix mishmash.

[Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had it’s points and some parts were okay but overall disappointing. As a New Yorker but not a NYC person some of the neighborhood described in the book really weren’t conveyed well

[Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good summary of the start of Jane JAcobs and her impact on urban planning.