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Robert Moses: City Planning and Politics in New York City with E.Y. Zipris

Robert Moses: City Planning and Politics in New York City with E.Y. Zipris


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Can't make this time? A video recording will be sent to all participants after the seminar.

Join E.Y. Zipris to investigate the life and legacy of twentieth-century urban planner Robert Moses and consider how New York City was transformed from the ground up.

Why does New York’s most powerful city planner continue to capture interest with a career covered in thousands of pages of books and articles? This seminar will cover not only Moses’ early life, his entry into the political world (without ever running for office), his numerous titles, and his major projects. During this seminar we will reconsider his legacies such as the clearing of so-called slums in favor of Lincoln Center, the disastrous after effects of the Cross Bronx Expressways, his emphasis on New York as a car city, and his successful bid to bring the home of the United Nations to the city’s east side. This seminar will also surface urban planners who rose up against Moses’ disregard for the city's residents upon whose homes and lives Moses imprinted his vision.

Led by New York City historian and museologist E.Y. Zipris, this interactive seminar will explore the life and career of Robert Moses and how New York's infrastructure has changed over the years. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased understanding of the streets, bridges, parks, and cultural sites of the city, as well as the lasting legacy of one of the most controversial players in New York’s recent memory.

For over two decades, E.Y. Zipris has studied, worked in, lectured, and written about museums and history. Formerly the Director of Education at the Museum of the City of New York, E.Y. played a leading role in developing its groundbreaking exhibition, New York at Its Core – the city's first-ever comprehensive exhibition. Currently, on faculty at the City University of New York and Teachers College, Columbia University, E.Y. brings her passion for storytelling to audiences of all ages. E.Y. has an EdM in Art Education and Museum Studies from Teachers College and an MA in Museum Anthropology from Columbia University and lives in the Upper West Side with her husband and daughter.

This conversation is suitable for all ages.

90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.

Customer Reviews

Based on 2 reviews
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Barbara Hill (Stroudsburg, US)
Robert Moses: Master Builder

I lived in Brooklyn for over thirty years and thought I had heard it all about Robert Moses, but E.Y. Zipris surprised me with new information and stories about this man who changed the face of New York City. She also tells this complicated tale with great enthusiasm. I look forward to more of her lectures.

N
Noel Stillings (Hollywood, US)
Review

Good overview of controversial figure. Although as a non- New Yorker maps showing where some of his major projects were located would have been helpful. Amazing that one man had so much power to shape the built environment.

Customer Reviews

Based on 2 reviews
50%
(1)
50%
(1)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
B
Barbara Hill (Stroudsburg, US)
Robert Moses: Master Builder

I lived in Brooklyn for over thirty years and thought I had heard it all about Robert Moses, but E.Y. Zipris surprised me with new information and stories about this man who changed the face of New York City. She also tells this complicated tale with great enthusiasm. I look forward to more of her lectures.

N
Noel Stillings (Hollywood, US)
Review

Good overview of controversial figure. Although as a non- New Yorker maps showing where some of his major projects were located would have been helpful. Amazing that one man had so much power to shape the built environment.