The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

Belle Moskowitz was the daughter of a poor Jewish watchmaker from Eastern Europe. By the time she reached out to Moses in 1918, she had established herself as the most important political advisor to the new governor, Al Smith. She spent years working on social reform and developed searing political insight. Smith sought to completely reorganize the state’s administrative machinery, so Belle recommended Moses. Smith was an idiosyncratic politician. While he resembled a typical Tammany Hall Democrat, he was very much his own man. Coming from a working-class Irish background, he won the governorship by appealing to disenfranchised voters such as women, who had just won the right to vote in New York in 1917, and working-class people. Moses accepted a job working for Smith, and under the tutelage of Mrs. Moskowitz, he learned “how things got done” (98). She taught Moses to be pragmatic, and he was eager to learn from her. He worked hard, assembling a trusted team and demanding results from them. He was angry and driven but also charming when necessary.

Moses produced a report that recommended restructuring the state government, placing more power in the governor’s hands. Some people were annoyed that Moses took sole credit for the report, even accusing him of plagiarism.