Robert Moses Vs. Jane Jacobs

"However else New Yorkers reacted to the sale last month of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, and to the announcement the same week that the Bloomberg administration would develop a new community on the 'Queens West' site, it was inevitable that in the ensuing discussion some people would invoke the spirits of two larger-than-life figures in the history of New York City's built environment – author and urban planning pioneer Jane Jacobs (who died on April 25th) and the city's 'master builder' Robert Moses (who died 25 years ago, in 1981).

This was inevitable because these two names are invoked nearly every week in debates about the future of New York City. Just the week before, in fact, the Gotham Center for New York City History presented a well-attended forum entitled 'Jane Jacobs Vs. Robert Moses: How Stands the Debate Today?' which featured speakers ranging from the head of the New York City Planning Commission to the architecture critic of the New York Times."