The power broker : Robert Moses and the fall of New York
Page 195
Author's interviews:
Peter Campbell Brown, Jacob Lutsky, Warren Moscow, Arnold Newman, Augusta Newman, Elliott Sanger, Elinor Sanger, Arnold Schleiffer, Sidney M. Shapiro, Robert F. Wagner, Jr., and the two auditors in the City Comptroller's office, Alfred A. Fried and Samuel Shaf-ran. Also several confidential sources.
NOTES
(All dates 1956)
"Country roads . . . rattle of pavements": Andrew Jackson Downing, quoted in Reed and Duckworth, p. 15.
"Beautiful, tranquil": Augusta Newman. Mrs. Davis' discovery: HT, May 6. "They can't do that!": Augusta Newman. Brush-off: Arnold Newman. Wald story: HT, Apr. 13.
"Working for the People" reviews: NYT, Mar 11; HT, Mar. 18. Giving Theobald a lesson: "Telephone Message from Commissioner Moses, 11:04 a.m., Friday, April 13," Wagner Papers.
RM's thinking: Author's analysis of his interviews with RM, Shapiro.
"Of all the city's wonders": Reed and Duckworth, p. 1.
Calling Isaacs: Sangers. Mothers and baby carriages: Augusta Newman. "In front of it": HT, Apr. 18. Tableau: Pictures in various newspapers, Apr. 17, 18.
RM trying to trick the protesters: Kieley, p. 4; NYT, DN, Apr. 21.
"Move some topsoU": NYT, Apr. 21.
"A heartbeat": Hurst quoted in DN, Apr. 23. Front-page box: WT&S, Apr. 24. Newspaper coverage: NYT, HT, Post, DN, Daily Mirror, J-A, WT&S, various issues, Apr. 'The claque": Daily Mirror, May 29. Isaacs' letters: NYT, Apr. 26 for example.
The April 24 raid: All papers. Best is Post, Apr. 24, by William H. Rudy. "Stab in the back": Elliott Sanger, quoted in HT, Apr. 24. "Sylvan victims": J-A, Apr. 25. "Who else?": Post, Apr. 25. The pictures: Various newspapers, Apr. 24, 25. "Little soldier": J-A, Daily Mirror, Apr. 25. Constable's smirk: DN, Apr. 25.
"Moses has the right": William Peer, quoted in NYT, Apr. 2. Council: Kieley, p. 4; NYT, Apr. 27, 28. Hecht: NYT, Apr. 27. Hofstadter: Various papers,
Apr. 28-May 3. Quoting pottrj Apr. 22. RM to Brown: Hrown ■ DN, Apr. 27.
Probably at Isaacs suggestion: was suggesting 1 . who would listen. For example, 1 to Wagner, Apr. 17, 1956, p. 2: "I remember well the time when he closed and razed the Casino in the Park. I wish someone could extract from the newspapers of that day all that he then to justify his act—which, incidentally, I approved." Wagner Papers. "Society" orchestras, etc.: Post, Apr. 25, 30, HT, DN, May 23.
"Schleiffer arrangement: Isaacs quoted in HT, May 2. Paid only $9,000: "Statement," Office of the Comptroller, undated, Wagner Papers; Shafran. No different from other arrangements: Unsigned memo "To: Leo Larkin, Asst. Corp. Counsel," from "Office of Comptroller, June 20, 1956," which lists other concessionaires and their rental arrangements with city. Wagner Papers. Paid for every meal: Schleiffer, various Tavern waiters. Why RM favored this arrangement: What he said publicly was that he favored it because under it the concessionaire pays for improvements to property that "the city ov/ns ... in the end" (HT, May 2).
"At issue now": WT&S, Apr. 30. "Park Windfall": J-A, May 1. "Only 2%": Post, May 1. "Drops Curtain": Post, Apr. 26.
Didn't realize the threat: Shapiro, confidential sources. "We're just going": HT, May 3. Private instructions: Brown.
Constable's refusal, Wagner's order: Post, May 1, 2; NYT, May 2. "Nothng to hide": Wagner quoted in NYT, May 5. "Mayor Demands Airing": WT&S, May 4. "Let's Find Out": NYT, May 21. "Moses' Wings": DN, May 21. "Wagner and City": Post, May 21. Wagner conversation with Brown: Brown. Wagner told the author he did not recall the conversation. "What I have not seen": L. O. Rothschild to WT&S, May 9. Federal officials: Post, Apr. 14; NYT, Apr. 16. "Salutary effect": Post, May 8. Circles, grimace: Pictures in Daily Mirror, WT&S, May 27. Shipboard interview: Various papers, May 27. Newmans' feelings: Newmans. "A proper greeting": Newman quoted in Post, May 27. "Mother of two": WT&S, May 28. Memo: Brown to Wagner, May 14, Wagner Papers.
$48,000: "Statement," Office of the Comptroller; HT, May 5.
"Moses in the dock": Brown. Face-saving arrangement: Brown, confirmed by memos, Brown to Wagner, May 9, 14-
Notes for pages 1002-1019
1236
Field agreed to let Moses save face. Reported the Post (July 18): "Asked what caused Moses to change his mind, Field says: 'I did not ask him and he did not tell me. . . . It's all closed and on a friendly basis.' " Brown's conferences with Wagner, RM: Brown. "Commissioner Moses agreed": Brown to Wagner, June 8, Wagner Papers.
Surrender headlines: Various papers, July 18.
Destruction of the myth: It was striking to the author that in interviews with persons who dealt with RM primarily after the Tavern fight, these persons spoke of him in terms emerging from that fight— in contrast to persons who dealt with him only before the fight. "Never the same": Shapiro.
43. Late Arrival
SOURCES
Books, articles, brochures and documents:
Anderson, The Federal Bulldozer; Lowe, Cities in a Race with Time; Moscow, The Last of the Big-Time Bosses and What Have You Done for Me Lately?; Moses, Dangerous Trade.
Fred J. Cook and Gene Gleason, "The Shame of New York," The Nation, Oct.
31. 1959.
Cook, Gabel and Thompson Papers.
Author's interviews:
Albert M. Cole, Fred J. Cook, Walter S. Fried, Hortense Gabel, William J. Haddad, Joseph Kahn, Jacob Lutsky, Mary Perot Nichols, Lawrence M. Orton, Stephen C. Thompson, Robert F. Wagner, Jr.; numerous federal, city and state housing officials, Moses aides and journalists who declined to be identified.
NOTES
Gleason's thinking: Cook. Kahn series:
Post, May 23-25, 1956. First Gleason-Cook series: WT&S, July 30-Aug. 4, 1956. Editors intimidated: Cook. RM's articles appeared Aug. 1, 2, 3. Phone tips pouring in: Cook, "Memo for Nort," Aug. 3, 1956, Cook Papers. Clipped-out ad: Attached to undated, untitled memo, Gleason to Cook, Cook Papers. Future leads: Cook to Mockridge, Aug. 4, Cook Fapers.
Interviews with city officials: Cook, Gabel, Thompson; Haddad would later have similar experiences. 92 -year-old wo-
man: WT&S, Brooklyn edition, Jan. J 7, 1957. Comptroller's aide: Gleason, "Memo re Title I," Apr. (date unclear), 1957. "The Department of Health reported yesterday": NYT, Jan. 24. Man-hattantown foreclosure: "Shame," p. 291. Five paragraphs: NYT, June 13. "We were conned": WT&S, June 13, and editorial, same date. In no newspaper: Various papers, June 14-21. "The changing ownership": NYT, June 19.
Gleason and Cook confident: Cook; "Shame," p. 291. Zeckendorf: "Shame," pp. 291-92; Cook. Board of Estimate session: Various papers, June 21, 22, 26, 27, 1957. "Human Betterment": Swope quoted in NYT, June 22. "Plain trafficking," "It sounded good," "disturbed no . . . realities": "Shame," pp. 291-92.
Lincoln Center: RM's grand conception: Dangerous Trade, pp. 516-33; author's interviews with RM. "Not to speak": p. 528. $9.58 vs. $7.00: Architectural Forum, Oct. 1957. Kennedy property: WT&S, Oct. 9, 1957; RM's reply (Dangerous Trade, p. 525): "Ambassador Kennedy was not interested in selling the building, preferred to keep it, and was induced to agree upon a very reasonable option price primarily as a matter of public service. . . . Far from representing a handout . . . this was getting for the City and Federal government far more than the usual written-down price for the area. . . . The story that the city lost or will lose money because of overpayment ... is malicious and wholly without basis in fact."
Cole attempting to go over RM's head: HT, Apr. 8, 14, 18, 1957. Wagner's telegram: HT, Apr. 19. RM's offer to resign, Wagner rejects it: NYT, July 27. Editorials: HT, NYT, July 29. McGinley, Rockefeller, etc.: Cole, Fried. "Compromise": NYT, Aug. 9. Gleason and Cook realization: Cook.
"The heat was really on"; "There was a time": "Shame," p. 292. Photostats: Cook Papers. "Manhattantown began": "Shame," pp. 289, 290. Gramercy Park: WT&S, Oct. 8, 1958, which produced a flyer circulated in the neighborhood: "It's Our Own Assemblyman Who Wants to Kick Us Out of Our Homes." Nassau Management: Many WT&S articles, summarized in "Shame," pp. 300-01. "Alone," "guts cut out": Cook, confirmed by author
's comparison of Cook's rough drafts with articles actually printed: Cook Papers.
Gleason: Cook, Haddad, Kahn, Thompson, but the definitive word was Murray Kempton's, Post, Nov. 25, 1959. "Nothing
Notes for pages 1019-1031
halts him": WT&S, June 23, 1959. See also Time, Dec. 7, 1959. Hidden mike: "Shame," pp. 280-84. Cook: Haddad, Kahn, Thompson. "Sense of injustice": Cook.
Giving it to Haddad: Cook. Helping each other: Cook, Haddad, Kahn. "Chipmunks": Gabel. "Our motives?": Haddad. The RM they knew was not the RM of the beautiful parks: This fact emerged quite clearly from the author's interviews with Cook, Haddad, Nichols and Thompson. "He had to be stopped": Kahn.
Public Friend No. 1: Long Island Press, Jan. 4, 1959; interviews: NYT, Jan. 7, 1959. Senate confirmation: HT, Mar. 21, 1959. The two senators quoted were John Cooke of Buffalo and Robert C. McEwen of Ogdensburg.
"Only 20 families": Post, Feb. 16, 1959. See also Mar. 31. Ungar: Post, Feb. 14, 1959. "Nowhere to Go": Post, Mar. 20. 1959. "City Admits Shifts": Post, Apr. n, 1959. "Awake at last": "Shame," p. 292.
44. Mustache and the Bard
SOURCES
Books, articles, transcripts, documents:
Moscow, What Have You Done for Me Lately?
Robert Hatch, "This Blessed Plot, This Shakespeare in the Park," Horizon, Nov. i960. H. Hewes, "Public Theatre: New York Shakespeare Festival," Saturday Review, Mar. 8, 1958. J. Sack, "Good Earth," The New Yorker, July 4,
1959.
Robert Brustein, "O, For a Draught," The New Republic, Sept. 12, i960.
J. M. Flagler, "Onward and Upward with the Arts," The New Yorker, Aug.
3i, 1957.
"The Public Fights for Life," Newsweek, Mar. 22, 1971.
Joseph Papp, "The Price of This Ticket Is Responsibility," HT, Mar. 16, 1958.
Charles Michener, "Papp's Universal Theater," Newsweek, July 3, 1972.
"Testimony of Joseph Papirofsky (Papp), Accompanied by Counsel, Eph-raim London," House Committee on Un-American Activities, June 19, 1958.
Wagner Papers, primarily Box 1944— "Jan.-June, I959-"
Author's interviews:
Howard S. Cullman, Warren Moscow, John Mulcahy, Paul O'Keefe, Joseph
Papp, Sidney M. Sh.ipim, Robert I V ner, Jr. Also one Mosei auK- who declined to be idl
NOTES
(All dates icj^cj unless otherwise noted)
Could recite whole scenes: Author heard him do so. Liked his style: Cullman, one of those he asked, recalls KM questioning Cornelia Otis Skinner at length about Papp at a dinner party, and being impressed; also Shapiro, confidential source.
Papp biography: Magazine articles cited above, but mostly Papp interview with author. "If I had to pay": Papp in HT, Mar. 16, 1958. Why RM built amphitheater: RM. "Oh, let him have it": Shapiro recalls the incident. Gives Papp "expression of interest": Papp.
A certain tenderness: Shapiro; the author noticed this quality of RM's in discussions about Thomas P. F. Hoving, among others. Gave Papp car, etc.: Papp. Kerr: Quoted in The New Yorker, Aug. 31, 1957, p. 56. Papp and the sergeant: Papp. Sit on a blanket: RM's feelings described by Cullman, Shapiro, confidential source. Horizon articles: Nov. i960. Saturday Review: Mar. 8, 1958. Constable assurance: Papp, confirmed by tone of later RM-Papp correspondence, Wagner Papers.
Didn't get along with Constable: Papp, Shapiro, confidential source. Papp's testimony: "Testimony of Joseph Papirofsky (Papp)," pp. 2549-58.
Without checking: Moscow, pp. 205-06. No more free Shakespeare: Papp to "Members of the Fact Finding Committee of the Entertainment Unions," Mar. 11, Wagner Papers.
"Every deputy": Moscow, p. 205. Birthday interview: NYT, Jan. 7. Papp trying to contact RM: Papp. "Very cavalier": RM to Papp, Mar. 18, Wagner Papers. "Erosion problems": RM to Papp, Mar. 1959, Wagner Papers.
"I feel certain": Papp to RM, Mar. 25, Wagner Papers. "Entirely in the hands": RM to Papp, Mar. 26, Wagner Papers. Papp says he will consider: Papp to Constable, Mar. 30, Wagner Papers, but Papp to Constable, Apr. 7: "We regret that it is impossible. . . . The whole idea of charging came up for re-examination yesterday by . . . our Board of Directors."
Papp's desperation: Papp. Press conference: HT, Apr. 16. RM's reply: Park Department press release, Apr. 15. Papp attacks again: Papp to RM, May 4»
Notes for pages 1031-1044
1238
Wagner Papers. Editorials: HT, WT&S, Apr. 30.
McLaughlin: McLaughlin to Kennedy, May 1, attached to Constable to Wagner, May 6, Wagner Papers. Tenney: RM to Tenney, Apr. 28, Wagner Papers, in which RM also states: "The artistic quality of the performers may be left to the judgment of others. Certainly they don't represent professional standards."
"A typical of the breed": RM to Wagner, Apr. 23, Wagner Papers. He circulated copies of Papp's testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee to some key city officials; turned over to the author was a transcript with the following note to Bronx Borough President Lyons attached: "Dear Jim: Here's the lad who has been putting on the heat in Central Park." Unsigned letter: Post, Apr. 29.
"Muggers," etc.: DN, May 2. "What's wrong with McCarthy?": Constable, quoted by Haddad, Post, Apr. 29. Editorials: Daily Mirror, May 21; DN, May 8; Post, Apr. 29; Newsday, May 1. Papp's eloquent letter: Papp to RM, May 4, Wagner Papers.
"You can't prove it": Post, May 6. Hopper: Post, Apr. 27. Lyons: Post, May 13. Eleanor: "My Day," in WT&S, Apr. 21. "As a child": Roger West to Post, May 7. 1,500 signatures: Post, May. 7. "Abolish Mr. Moses!": Post, May 20. Pictures leaving hospital: DN, May. 2.
Papp's strategy: Papp. "It's now up to you": Papp to Wagner, May 5, Wagner Papers. Post editorial: May 6. "He would rather be": Moscow.
Wagner detested Constable: Wagner told the author, "He was a pompous ass. ... He antagonized a lot of people. He thought he came down with the word from Olympus." Wagner's feelings: Moscow.
Wagner's humiliation: Various papers, Apr. 17-May 2. Here is an example of the newspaper play by Judith Crist on p. 1 of the Apr. 21 HT: "For the fifth consecutive day yesterday Mayor Wagner reported that he was unable to get in touch with Park Commissioner Robert Moses. . . . Undaunted, the Mayor indicated that he hopes to reach Mr. Moses eventually." NYT story: Apr. 21. "Appeared irritated": WT&S, Apr. 21. "No": DN, May 2. Players Club lunch: Moscow. Statement in press, May 12.
Lower Court: NYT, May 19, June 3. Appellate Division: NYT, June 18. "Of course abide": NYT, June 19. Two philanthropists: Florence Sutro Anspacher
and the Edward L. Bernays Foundation. "Julius Caesar" hailed: Judith Crist in HT, Aug. 4, for example, said: "Moses . . . missed a good show."
"Oh, give it to him": Shapiro and confidential source, who agree on what RM's true feelings were. A one-sentence letter agreeing to put Park Department equipment at Papp's disposal was sent to him by RM, July 6, Wagner Papers. One of the best things: Newsweek, July 3, 1972,
p. 54-
"Does anybody doubt it?": Isaacs quoted in NYT, Apr. 27. The public understood now: Among the many editorials pointing this out: Post, Apr. 16; NYT, Apr. 18; HT, Apr. 16; WT&S, Apr. 17.
45. Off to the Fair
SOURCES
Books and articles:
Lowe, Cities in a Race with Time; Moscow, What Have You Done for Me Lately?; Moses, Dangerous Trade; Talese, The Kingdom and the Power.
Fred J. Cook and Gene Gleason, "The Shame of New York," The Nation, Oct.
31, I959-
Cook and Wagner Papers.
Moses, "The Fair and the Building Congress" (a speech delivered to the New York Building Trades Congress), May 4, 1961.
Author's interviews:
Henry Barnes, Peter J. Brennan, Albert H. Cole, John A. Coleman, Jane Moses Collins, Fred J. Cook, Timothy J. Cooney, Thomas E. Dewey, Walter S. Fried, Monroe Gold water, William J. Haddad, Joseph T. Ingraham, Joseph Kahn, Robert Kopple, Jacob Lutsky, Michael J. Madigan, Warren Moscow, John Mulcahy, Mary Perot Nichols, Paul O'Keefe, Joseph Papp, Paul R. Screvane, Sidney M. Shapiro, Robert F. Wagner, Jr.
/>
NOTES
(All dates 1959)
Citizens Union questions and answers:
Various papers, May 11, 21. "A great day!": Haddad.
Haddad, Kahn and the files: Haddad, Kahn. "Delicate situation": Shanahan memo, Feb. 24, 1957, copied by Gleason; Cook Papers. To RM, sponsors were Colonel Bennett's group: RM, press release, July 3; Moses, Dangerous Trade,
Notes for pages 1044-1065
pp. 456-57. Had left investigation to Shanahan: Confidential source. Gigante: "Benson Memo to City Desk—Subject: Vincent Gigante," undated, Cook Papers. "Grotesque": NYT, July 4.
Donoghue and Baron: Haddad, Kahn; Post, June 26; Gleason, "Memo—Re: Hall developers, et al.," Jan. 21, 1956.
Soundview tip: Cook.
Shanahan: Haddad. "Answer every one": Kahn. FHA loans, Ungar's $700,-000: Post, various articles. "A fundraiser": Post, June 16; WT&S, July 11.
Wechsler and Mrs. Schiff: Haddad, Kahn. "There was a time": "Shame," p. 292. Change in older reporters: Cook, Haddad, Kahn, confidential sources. "You can't do that, Mayor": Haddad, confidential source.
"Personal publicist": Post, June 26. Interview with Lebwohl: Kahn, "Some Stories I Didn't Write," Page One of 1972, pp. 41-42.
Spargo: WT&S, July 22, Aug. 24; Post, June 18, July 22, 27, 28, Aug. 24; HT, Aug. 24; NYT, June 30. "Mr. Moses' Man": Post, Aug. 26. Front page: NYT, Aug. 23. RM's response: On June 21, for example, he issued two separate statements, rushing the first to city desks and telegraphing the second: NYT, June 22.
Investigators checking Haddad: Haddad, Kahn, confidential source. Locking off the vending machines: Kahn. "Licking his chops": "To Fred Cook from Gene Gleason," undated memo, Cook Papers. "Get out": Haddad.
"Befuddled": NYT, June 23. "As news": Talese, pp. 99-101. "Our confidence": NYT editorial, June 25. "Startling disclosures": NYT, July 1, 4. Editors okayed submission: Confidential source. "I . . . protested": Moses, Dangerous Trade, pp. 460-61. RM to Sulzberger: Letter quoted in Dangerous Trade, p. 461. Sulzberger's invitation: Quoted in Dangerous Trade, p. 461. Play toned down: For example, when, on July 29, Wagner responded to another Moses resignation ultimatum with another concession, the Times editorialized: "We need, occasionally and more often, to turn away from fault-finding and examine with appreciation the extent to which New York is being rebuilt. . . . Among the good news ... is the word that Mr. Moses—hard to live with but impossible to do without—will still be in there pitching."