Yes Robert Moses was a narcissist. It is because of him NYC subways deteriorated to the point of near collapse. He opposed new subway lines especially to Staten Island which to this very day is in dire need of a subway connection.
And after he got fired the subway had to limp along until the 1980s when the state finally had enough money to fix the subway! I was living in Boston at the time (1970s) and those of us who went to NYC on school field trips did not like the condition of its subway and were thankful for the "T"!
Staten Island is also disconnected (from public transportation) between Bayonne, NJ and Staten Island. For example, one day, long time ago about 10 years ago, I was invited to go to someplace in Staten Island, and my car was not in good working conditions, and I searched online to see if there is any bus that goes to Staten Island. For my surprise, there is no way to go there, unless you drive or willing to pay like $80 in Uber in total from Union City to Staten Island.
Yet many Staten Islanders have voted AGAINST having a subway connect them time and time again. They don't want "those people" from the 4 boroughs to be able to get to them
@@coolboss999 Not according to the Staten Island Advance. Repeatedly SI residents in polls have called for a subway connection and eliminating the worthless express buses that utilize the same BQE as in this video.
i've ridden that road more than 10,000 times in my life and never knew it was called the gowanus expressway. I just called it the BQE that goes to the belt parkway.
I've been on their many times. I was on it most times from 2004-2012 due to a job I had at the time. We had to go through that piece of highway whenever we had to go between Bay ridge and lower Manhattan either due to work or family going to Bay Ridge during certain times of the year. My family calls it literally the "2-7-8", numerically, in Chinese, so, as a kid, I always thought the Gowanus Expressway was part of the 278-Brooklyn Queens Expressway. Might as well make it that way since most people thought the same.
That train accident was in 1888. That is the same year Robert Moses was born. I can't see how public opinion about that accident "provided a perfect segue for Moses to lean into his vision of city parkways." That vision had to wait another 40 years.
Moses's decision to build public housing projects all over NYC and then oppose the improvement of subways dissolves any argument that he was a visionary. Who would expect the poor people of New York to all buy and maintain cars? That's just stupid.
New York's public housing is a model for the nation if you did not know. Several books point out the success of NYC's public housing. Robert Moses also had beautiful landscaped parkways built in NYC, something you don't see on any level in other American cities. Robert Moses was an awesome city planner no matter what the anti car crowd whines about.
I traveled on it many times and also during rush hour. I thought I was going to die on a spinout across a number of lanes. Very dangerous and always jammed with traffic. The canal draw bridge would also cause problems when it got stuck open or when ship went through. A very strange roadway with parts above and parts below ground. It was sick 50 years ago and now on life support. You should do a vid on the FDR drive. Another very sic roadway. It's like riding on road that's been through several earthquakes. They spent billions trying prop it up from water erosion. Love your channel. Thank you for all your efforts!
Just a little. haha. It's hard to find real numbers. They spent a lot. In the late 80's into the 90's, 3 years or so building out the eroded sea wall and the repairs of crumbling overhangs (Rockefeller University and other buildings, parks) that are over the FDR in sections. One cost I found was when the built part of NYU over the FDR it cost around 850mil. Technically not the FDR but a perspective on cost. Anyway, it was lots of fun travelling it by day and doing after hour calls. Those days are over. @@JusticeAlways
despite the hatred, I gotta say, I do LOVE riding/driving around that corner (of the BQE, at the north end of the Gowanus) and seeing the downtown Manhattan skyline, such an impressive sight, and one that always makes me realise how lucky I am to live in such a place.
Right. Same with Van Wyck. I often use the BQE/Gowanus at weekends and its almost always a fast drive. Video is a little dramatic. A ton of money has been spend refurbishing it in the past decade. Compare with Paris, London, Rome...
I'm sorry but do you have other pictures of accidents on the Gowanus expressway? Every time you mention it, you show a picture of the Kosciuszko Bridge on the BQE. Also, you keep showing the picture of the famous triple cantilever, which is not part of the Gowanus expressway, but part of the BQE. It's important to note that between bay ridge and red hook, the Gowanus does not necessarily divide communities since one side is just factories, stores, and warehouses, and the other is houses; however, I do agree with you about dividing red hook and bay ridge. I want to also mention that traffic on the Gowanus Expressway is mostly caused by the triple cantilever on the BQE, since the number of lanes was reduced from 3 to 2, because of collapse risks. Lastly, the Gowanus canal does not get polluted by the expressway. at least it is not one of the big reasons why the Gowanus is a super fund. For decades, the Gowanus was a dumping place for sewage, chemicals, and trash from homes and factories, in addition to the oil and diesel that was seeped from ships and boats moving in and out of the canal.
Good for you to make corrections here. I was 15 seconds in, and I was already starting to count the pictorial and narration errors! The problems with the Gow are not the same as the problems (significant) on the BQE to the north, but the problems feed on each other into mega-problems overall.
I believe that many the warehouses and factories between the expressway and the waterfront between Red Hook and Bay Ridge are more recent developments. Area residents were strongly in favor of building the expressway on 2nd Ave since it was a bit more mixed but not yet strictly industrial. Back when the third ave elevated train was running, third ave. was the heart of the neighborhood. That is where most of the everyday retail stores and apartments were located. Robert Moses changed all that. He knocked down a number of buildings, each containing vital businesses and homes and ultimately blighted the entire area.
Tbh I am not sure when the industrial buildings came to be, but I am very aware the industry city is new. I am mostly referring to the buildings themselves, but if you are right then I would agree with you.@@manonthemoog
As much as I hate the traffic, that little stretch from exit 27 to 28 when you’re coming around the curve and you see the skyline on your left really puts you at ease at least for a few minutes
I have heard that Robert Moses never had a driver's license. Maybe things would have beed different had he driven and knew what it was like to experiance congestion.
Moses knew about congestion all too well. That is why he kept building more roads and bridges. What he didn't know is that approach just leads to, ironically, more congestion. Planners were always flabbergasted that brand new roads or bridges were always jam-packed just a few months after they opened. Had he built public transportation along with the roads, this would have slowed down this process. But in the 20s and 30s everyone felt cars represented progress, and public transportation was considered old fashioned, slow, and were run by corrupt owners at a profit. He did not even consider adding public transportation options to the bridges he built. He will be considered both a blessing and a curse for all of eternity.
I moved out of New York in my early twenties for a job change in Washington DC. I lived in a beautiful neighborhood in Maryland. I didn't realize how good I had it until I moved back to New York 35 years later. The traffic is ridiculous, the conditions of the roads are horrible. Anytime I have to drive somewhere I try to leave at 6:00 in the morning. Then try to come home either before Rush Hour or 3 hours after rush hour. Otherwise I really just can't take it. The standstill makes driving something that I love a misery now. Once a month I must take the Van Wyck Expressway. No matter what time, three lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic.
@@johntownsend1837 I will be on it tomorrow Thursday the 14th. Got to a point where I now drive on the shoulder. I got caught on once. A vehicle in front of me blocked my view of the unmarked vehicle. I received my fat ticket and two points on my license, I still do it.
As a NY Paramedic who routinely travels the many highways of the tristate area I can attest that the traffic report every morning or evening always ended with the DJ reporting " ........and there is a flipped over car on the outbound Gowanus, and that's your traffic report for today" You could bet money on it and be a rich man!!!!!
Parkways: A 1930's concept designed for low speed motoring by automobile while enjoying the scenery usually built along rivers if possible. They later proved to be narrow, constricted, twisty and dangerous to drive as the American motoring habits changed. The Taconic Parkway is a prime example.
Amazing essay and great visuals. Instant subscription! This video is approached with such specificity and clarity that it is very enjoyable to watch, especially as someone knowledgeable with the area.
When it’s all said and done, I go back to my youth in the sixties growing up in Brooklyn. There were few things I loved more than riding in the car with my dad on the Gowanus. I thought it was a spectacular feat of engineering! The waterfront was still happening with ships from all over, tugboats pulling rail cars over from Jersey, and then coming up on the beautiful sight of the Brooklyn Bridge. I’ll just remember those days and forget later in the eighties when the potholes literally knocked my car out of gear! And the section in the cut is slower than walking.
I've literally never heard this highway called the Gowanus Expressway. I've ONLY ever heard it called the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway). But yea, this thing needs some serious re-work
Easiest major improvement to it would be the elimination of all on/off ramps. Make it strictly a thru highway. Eliminate one lane in each direction to allow emergency access by way of the ramps barricaded to the public. As a trucker, I avoided travel thru the city unless I had a delivery in one of the Boros. It was always a huge risk to try to drive thru to go to Connecticut...the long way around thru New Jersey was not much more time wise.
I don't think the on and off ramps are the issue here. Every time I go on the Gowanus expressway just above Red Hook there is traffic. However, that traffic comes from the triple cantilever on the BQE, because the lanes merge from 3 to 2. It used to have 3 lanes, but because the increased risk of collapse due to poor maintenance and neglect, it was reduced to 2, which creates traffic further back. The onramp from Atlantic Avenue may seem like an issue, but it's really not. If the police were to give tickets for last second merges, then everything would go smoothly if there were 3 lanes instead of 2.
Between Bay Ridge and Red Hook there is on 1 exit ramp in both directions and no entrance ramps. Reducing the amount of lanes is a horrible idea. It's a gamble everytime I take the bus from Staten Island to Manhattan if I can get to Battery Park in 1 hour or 2 hours. Recently it took over 2 hours from my front door to a doctor on E. 17th St. The bus goes through the Brooklyn Battery tunnel. The Gowanus was bumper to bumper traffic the entire way and there was no accident. That was just every day traffic with all lanes open.
I had a conversation with a DOT official who maintains that those neighborhoods bitch about access to the highway. Cutting down on the ramps works to move traffic but again the public will not stand for cutting off access to a highway they live next too and they pay for.
Bqe (I-278) has traffic 24/7 from before the hugh l carey tunnel until the Brooklyn Bridge, because Brooklyn Bridge is toll free, and it became a 2 lane highway for that stretch.
Not just because of its condition, but any accident or breakdown all but brought that stretch to a stand still. It was partly done to create a "breakdown" area, but people think it's their own personal lane and use it to create more problems because they're too freaking good to wait in line and just move along with everyone else. That city is a lost cause. There is no fixing it or making it better.
What’s dumb is how they made the section between Atlantic ave and Brooklyn bridge exit two lanes instead of 3. There’s always traffic there now no matter what time of day
Asian construction outshines us. Japan could step in and change how we build infrastructure. Cooperation of both America and Japan could help in rebuilding
The image at 7:53 looks like a film location for the chase segment in the movie The French Connection. I always thought the drive on the Brooklyn - Queens Expressway between Atlantic Ave & Old Fulton St was such a lovey drive. lol
That chase scene (on of my all-time favs) is actually under the elevated subway (D/West End) in Bensonhurst and Gravesend. The elevated part of the BQE shown here is in another neighborhood (Gowanus) and bigger.
This whole things reminds me of when someone will keep putting money into a crappy car instead of buying a new one. They’ve put tons of money to keep it a mess instead of knocking it down decades ago. Probably would’ve cost less.
I always considered this part of the BQE. I didn't realize it was the Gowanus. I mean I always hear about the Gowanus on 1010WINS, but I never realized. And I hate it too! Once took me 2 hours to travel less than 5 miles on it.
I remember driving through NYC for this for time this stretch of road caught my eye. It's like no other road I've been on before. It looks pretty cool but it was so sketch and dilapidated it made me nervous. The terrible traffic made it even more stressful.
Robert Moses was the president of the 1964 / 1965 World's Fair, not the 1959 world's Fair. Also, the overpass that you showed at the beginning of the video it's not a part of the iguanas it is a part of the BQE
At 4:02: there was no 1959 World's Fair. There was a 1939 NYC World's Fair and a 1965 World's Fair, both in the same spot in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. Robert Moses was in charge of both of them. The "Unisphere" from that Fair is still standing.
Here's an idea: Remove the Gowanus Expressway between 60th Street and Prospect Expressway. Feed the remaining traffic onto 3rd Ave. With all the traffic diverted off I-278, including the BQE, see how much people want a replacement of the Gowanus. Traffic that still needs to run from Staten Island to Queens, the Bronx and Connecticut can go via the Belt Parkway, I-678, and the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge.
@@anthonygallo3576 Is the Gowanus any better? Moreover, the Belt Parkway might be easier to upgrade, given its location. Remember that the Gowanus and the BQE are both due for replacement. Also. the existing Gowanus provides no significant benefit to Brooklynites all along 3rd Ave. Now 3rd Ave. can be restored as a modern boulevard, with ample room for bus lanes and cycleways.
@@haydargokcebay2285 - The idea is to reduce traffic off I-278 solely to what is actually bound for that part of Brooklyn. Through traffic should be routed around the Brooklyn waterfront.
Gee, I always thought the Crash Bronx Distressway was the most hated highway in NYC. You should do a video on it, from the new tunnel and Bus Terminal all the way east via its myriad of exits , interchanges and through routes.
The Cross Bronx doesn’t have the menacing curves that are all too present on the BQE/Gowanus. At least it’s smooth sailing on the Cross Bronx in the middle of the night. Whereas the curves on the latter aren’t going away anytime soon.
😂 Crash Bronx Distressway, what a name. Never really had to travel past the Bronx as a kid but did have family that lived in Rochester. A few times, we'd go to the county fair in Yonkers, a part of Westchester County and that's it, rarely remembered the time there. I never knew how big Yonkers was. Since we only went to Yonkers, I thought Yonkers was its own city or even county since it seems to be bigger than Manhattan. Always thought all the places above the Bronx were just called "____chester" like Eastchester, Westchester, Rochester, etc... Little did I know, Rochester was never a part of Westchester County not even "Rochester" County but is really in Monroe County?! 😮
Cross Bronx is still one of the worst highways because it is one of the only Crosstown highways in the Bronx as well as the only highway from the Bronx that takes you over the GWB cause it to be a traffic hell for majority of the day.
Why doesn’t the image show the Gowanus? (That’s the double deck section under the Brooklyn-Heights Promenade, which is part of the BQE, not part of the Gowanus)
Funny how his mom was trying to join rich and poor- yet Robert Moses built the bridges on long Island northern and Southern state parkways too low for busses to travel on- to keep blacks out of public beaches on long Island
I’m 68 years old I come from 19th street in Brooklyn and can tell you that this stretch of road has been under construction since I’m a kid. Roads and subway are a couple of major ways billions are bilked out of the system, this town has been corrupt for more than 160 years now.
The opening picture is the double decker BQE and nothing mentioning about it. That's another history story in itself as how it came to be developed under Brooklyn Heights community.
There is a major repainting if the Gowanus section going on now from 65th st up until the BQE trench at Hamilton Ave,Champion construction is the contractor
as a brooklyn native, we have always called it the gowanus and to explain its logic to strangers, it is just "the elevated portion of third ave", but the whole thing is all BQE, if that makes any sense at all. LOL
So at 12b estimated I’d say it’s more like double or triple that after the work would start. Ask Boston there’s was estimated at 4b and with interest it’s in the 20b area
@@alexmercer8042 there is public transit (train and bus about 2-3blocks/ 2000 feet away) but you know Costco; most people buy a lot of stuff and it’s a pain to transport in public transit.
The the resaons for so many crazy turns on the parkways was he was unable to get the right of ways.If it wasn't for his planning there would be no way to drive anwhere with out hundreds of traffic lights...Go down Queens Blvd now as see how long you wait at a red light....it's a Joke.
Doesn’t help that DeBlasio changed three lanes of traffic into two lanes. And now the city wants to charge congestion pricing for a problem they added too.
Lol. 50 mph as even a traveling speed through there is a dream. On 278 in Staten Island, there is a highway sign that states "upgrade, maintain speed". Makes me laugh every time, because when you're at the sign, you're hardly moving.
The Power Broker is the definitive Moses biography, but a worthwhile addendum is "Robert Moses and The Modern City,' which catalogs the enormous amount of influence he had in shaping New York, through parks, pools, and those notorious highways. It doesn't gloss over his many faults, but provides a detailed compendium of the thousands of projects he oversaw.
old photos! all the photos of the elevated roadway (which is actually the gowanus expressway unlike other photos he showed) is shown as rusty green paint but is currently being repainted a fresh coat of semi gloss green! no need for improvements, just a fresh coat of paint! /sarcasm
Appartently Robert Moses had no idea that substandard city planning is all ge did & to this day the least of which was the of tearing out 'tenement' housing, old homes of Rockaway Coastline did only harm ~ did not provide housing. The Gowanus Development was a disaster ~ area became dumpsite for toxins sewage ~ although hipster houseboats still exist at Gowanus waterway. Moses had no concept urban planning. No parks were added. Large population of WWII vets returning & migration from South was to have had access to new housing in the Gowanu Area ~ Very Interesting Ryan ~ Premium Coastline revitalized must ge utilized as an escape from Summer Heat & could be a new vital resort like shopping area. Hope that area might be 'fixed'
I would build a tunnel put the gowanus underneath and then put a nice road or park boulevard on top with a light rail for commuters feeding to the subway therefore decreasing the traffic further.
the bqe under the promenade is not the gowanus expressway, only the stretch of road between the verrezano and the tunnel is considered the gowanus expressway, as it because it passes over the stink bomb gowanus canal
Keep the Gowanus Expressway for local traffic only, deep tunnel under it. Light trafic for locals, more service lanes, bikes, interstate traffic in the tunnel.
@@AdamSmith-gs2dv trucks should be forced to go around cities, not into them. As for trucks that need to deliver goods into the city, part of that can be converted to cargo rail if the infrastructure is sufficiently updated. Also, encouraging the use of smaller trucks that take up less space for city deliveries is the way to go.
@@mikeamber2528yep, because the local corner store needs a tail lone behind it to relieve its goods, and no retailer, especially the big ones are going to pay for 10 - 20 trucks to deliver what one semi can. It would also create more congestion, because now, instead of say in a day a warehouse gets 10 (example only, not actual #. Could be more) 18 wheelers in a day. And usually the show up pretty much all at once. Now take your imaginary scenario and you could have 6 - 8 times as many trucks. Good plan.
Okay... First of all... Much of the roadway you're talking about... ISN'T the Gowanus Expressway. That's the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. Secondly your "crumbling infrastructure" stock image was the result of the controlled demolition of the Kosciusko Bridge
Along with the political football that is maintaining city infrastructures... the difficulties are compounded by the misplaced moral outrage expressed by commuters due to *ANY* shutdowns or redirects when cities do try to make improvements. It's a lose-lose situation.
The problem is the city planning. Creating bottlenecks when none exist before, narrowing lanes and messing up the traffic pattern. On potholes, it's the Dept of Sanitation creating it when they clear snow.
This road has been a disaster since the 1950’s when my Dad used to commute by car every week. It was falling apart then and by some miracle, it’s still falling apart in 2023. How it hasn’t collapsed, I don’t know.
I grew up on LI. Most of this stuff was done 100 years ago. 10% of the roads in the US were paved. He did some job at that time. A tough man, but he did what he did at the time. Don't knock him too hard.
It really is a shame ot wasn't maintained. The triple cantilever might be one of the most beautiful highway sections (engineering not scenery) I've ever seen.
Sadly much of our infrastructure was built as needed with no planning for future expansions if needed. Even with the financial restrictions of such public works, ya would think some engineer thought well enough ahead to have plans set up.
All of Robert Moses' roads are heavily utilised, to the point of disrepair. Which, to my mind, exonerates his legacy. Without them, the city would choke. Freight would be unmoveable. And don't tell me that more rail and public transit could have been built. The fact is that nobody else got things built in NYC as quickly and efficiently as Moses. The fact that it took NYC half a century to build a new subway line is testament to that fact.
Not just “involved in” ... Massively architecting and bulldozing no matter who opposed him. He was finally stopped, but it came much too late ... he single-handedly destroyed multiple communities, all of them poor/ethnic, none of them white/wealthy.
@@whitetailfox1 The Power Broker is a book of intimidating size, but utterly fascinating study of politics, ambition, and the lasting impact of runaway myopia. Moses worked and studied harder than nearly all his contemporaries, but arguably disfigured the future of NYC and the lives of countless inhabitants in the region. Mr. Caro's book is unforgettable
Highways nationwide created housing problems essentially cutting neighborhoods in half. As a result leaving financial and social destruction. Car culture kills community imho😢
Yes Robert Moses was a narcissist. It is because of him NYC subways deteriorated to the point of near collapse. He opposed new subway lines especially to Staten Island which to this very day is in dire need of a subway connection.
And after he got fired the subway had to limp along until the 1980s when the state finally had enough money to fix the subway! I was living in Boston at the time (1970s) and those of us who went to NYC on school field trips did not like the condition of its subway and were thankful for the "T"!
Staten Island is also disconnected (from public transportation) between Bayonne, NJ and Staten Island. For example, one day, long time ago about 10 years ago, I was invited to go to someplace in Staten Island, and my car was not in good working conditions, and I searched online to see if there is any bus that goes to Staten Island. For my surprise, there is no way to go there, unless you drive or willing to pay like $80 in Uber in total from Union City to Staten Island.
Yet many Staten Islanders have voted AGAINST having a subway connect them time and time again. They don't want "those people" from the 4 boroughs to be able to get to them
@@coolboss999 Not according to the Staten Island Advance. Repeatedly SI residents in polls have called for a subway connection and eliminating the worthless express buses that utilize the same BQE as in this video.
We all know the R train should have made it to Staten Island
If they put the Gowanus Expressway in a tunnel, they could rename it the Gounderus Expressway.
Best reason to build it.
I respect what you’ve done here haha
ok that's hilarious
The expressway out of town is the Goawaynus Expressway.
i've ridden that road more than 10,000 times in my life and never knew it was called the gowanus expressway. I just called it the BQE that goes to the belt parkway.
I've been on their many times. I was on it most times from 2004-2012 due to a job I had at the time. We had to go through that piece of highway whenever we had to go between Bay ridge and lower Manhattan either due to work or family going to Bay Ridge during certain times of the year. My family calls it literally the "2-7-8", numerically, in Chinese, so, as a kid, I always thought the Gowanus Expressway was part of the 278-Brooklyn Queens Expressway. Might as well make it that way since most people thought the same.
lol me Tooo I thought it was called bQE
@@trien30 Yeah my parents always called it the BQE or the 278 expressway. so I knew it as that and the belt parkway was separate.
No one calls it this. Even when you are coming from SI over the Verrazano exit lanes are marked “BQE”
From what I understand that part is called the Gowanus but the whole length is BQE so it is a part of the BQE
That train accident was in 1888. That is the same year Robert Moses was born. I can't see how public opinion about that accident "provided a perfect segue for Moses to lean into his vision of city parkways." That vision had to wait another 40 years.
Yes, I like this channel, but Mr. Socash makes a stretch from time to time.
It is left leaning. What did you expect?
Moses's decision to build public housing projects all over NYC and then oppose the improvement of subways dissolves any argument that he was a visionary. Who would expect the poor people of New York to all buy and maintain cars? That's just stupid.
Buy! Sure. Maintain? Now that's one thing Americans can't do.
Can’t buy a car if there’s nowhere to store it. NYC has very limited parking
New York's public housing is a model for the nation if you did not know. Several books point out the success of NYC's public housing. Robert Moses also had beautiful landscaped parkways built in NYC, something you don't see on any level in other American cities. Robert Moses was an awesome city planner no matter what the anti car crowd whines about.
he was just giving out jobs and contracts to his mates.... corruption built ny, not planners
@@handymanr4729 - You're probably right.
I traveled on it many times and also during rush hour. I thought I was going to die on a spinout across a number of lanes. Very dangerous and always jammed with traffic. The canal draw bridge would also cause problems when it got stuck open or when ship went through. A very strange roadway with parts above and parts below ground. It was sick 50 years ago and now on life support.
You should do a vid on the FDR drive. Another very sic roadway. It's like riding on road that's been through several earthquakes. They spent billions trying prop it up from water erosion. Love your channel. Thank you for all your efforts!
That sounds interesting.
Billions? A bit exaggerated I'd say.😅
Just a little. haha. It's hard to find real numbers. They spent a lot. In the late 80's into the 90's, 3 years or so building out the eroded sea wall and the repairs of crumbling overhangs (Rockefeller University and other buildings, parks) that are over the FDR in sections. One cost I found was when the built part of NYU over the FDR it cost around 850mil. Technically not the FDR but a perspective on cost. Anyway, it was lots of fun travelling it by day and doing after hour calls. Those days are over. @@JusticeAlways
Dangerous hahaha. Born and raised in Brooklyn and I'm 51. I've driven that road almost every single day since 89'.
despite the hatred, I gotta say, I do LOVE riding/driving around that corner (of the BQE, at the north end of the Gowanus) and seeing the downtown Manhattan skyline, such an impressive sight, and one that always makes me realise how lucky I am to live in such a place.
Sameee its so pretty
I'm kinda surprised that the most hated highway isn't the cross-bronx. That road is a terror and is always congested.
Right. Same with Van Wyck. I often use the BQE/Gowanus at weekends and its almost always a fast drive. Video is a little dramatic. A ton of money has been spend refurbishing it in the past decade. Compare with Paris, London, Rome...
I'm sorry but do you have other pictures of accidents on the Gowanus expressway? Every time you mention it, you show a picture of the Kosciuszko Bridge on the BQE. Also, you keep showing the picture of the famous triple cantilever, which is not part of the Gowanus expressway, but part of the BQE. It's important to note that between bay ridge and red hook, the Gowanus does not necessarily divide communities since one side is just factories, stores, and warehouses, and the other is houses; however, I do agree with you about dividing red hook and bay ridge. I want to also mention that traffic on the Gowanus Expressway is mostly caused by the triple cantilever on the BQE, since the number of lanes was reduced from 3 to 2, because of collapse risks. Lastly, the Gowanus canal does not get polluted by the expressway. at least it is not one of the big reasons why the Gowanus is a super fund. For decades, the Gowanus was a dumping place for sewage, chemicals, and trash from homes and factories, in addition to the oil and diesel that was seeped from ships and boats moving in and out of the canal.
this guy gets it.
Good for you to make corrections here. I was 15 seconds in, and I was already starting to count the pictorial and narration errors! The problems with the Gow are not the same as the problems (significant) on the BQE to the north, but the problems feed on each other into mega-problems overall.
I believe that many the warehouses and factories between the expressway and the waterfront between Red Hook and Bay Ridge are more recent developments. Area residents were strongly in favor of building the expressway on 2nd Ave since it was a bit more mixed but not yet strictly industrial. Back when the third ave elevated train was running, third ave. was the heart of the neighborhood. That is where most of the everyday retail stores and apartments were located. Robert Moses changed all that. He knocked down a number of buildings, each containing vital businesses and homes and ultimately blighted the entire area.
Tbh I am not sure when the industrial buildings came to be, but I am very aware the industry city is new. I am mostly referring to the buildings themselves, but if you are right then I would agree with you.@@manonthemoog
Why hasn't NYC started on replacing the triple cantilever?
As much as I hate the traffic, that little stretch from exit 27 to 28 when you’re coming around the curve and you see the skyline on your left really puts you at ease at least for a few minutes
That statement by Frances Perkins was brilliant.
And she had known him for a long, long time...at least since he was still a young, struggling reformer in his 20's.
I have heard that Robert Moses never had a driver's license. Maybe things would have beed different had he driven and knew what it was like to experiance congestion.
Moses knew about congestion all too well. That is why he kept building more roads and bridges. What he didn't know is that approach just leads to, ironically, more congestion. Planners were always flabbergasted that brand new roads or bridges were always jam-packed just a few months after they opened.
Had he built public transportation along with the roads, this would have slowed down this process. But in the 20s and 30s everyone felt cars represented progress, and public transportation was considered old fashioned, slow, and were run by corrupt owners at a profit. He did not even consider adding public transportation options to the bridges he built.
He will be considered both a blessing and a curse for all of eternity.
Not just the Gowanus, a lot of NYC highways suffer from problems some of which are similar to those of many eastern US highways mainly in cities.
I moved out of New York in my early twenties for a job change in Washington DC. I lived in a beautiful neighborhood in Maryland. I didn't realize how good I had it until I moved back to New York 35 years later. The traffic is ridiculous, the conditions of the roads are horrible. Anytime I have to drive somewhere I try to leave at 6:00 in the morning. Then try to come home either before Rush Hour or 3 hours after rush hour. Otherwise I really just can't take it. The standstill makes driving something that I love a misery now. Once a month I must take the Van Wyck Expressway. No matter what time, three lanes of bumper-to-bumper traffic.
Van wyck is the worst
@@johntownsend1837
I will be on it tomorrow Thursday the 14th. Got to a point where I now drive on the shoulder. I got caught on once. A vehicle in front of me blocked my view of the unmarked vehicle.
I received my fat ticket and two points on my license, I still do it.
I've lived in NY my entire life and don't know a single person that calls this road the Gowanus Expressway.
I spent the 1st 12 years of my life starting in 1970 next to that highway in Bay Ridge, I knew it was called the Gowanus.
As a NY Paramedic who routinely travels the many highways of the tristate area I can attest that the traffic report every morning or evening always ended with the DJ reporting " ........and there is a flipped over car on the outbound Gowanus, and that's your traffic report for today" You could bet money on it and be a rich man!!!!!
Grew up in Sunset Park. Everyone just called it the Gowanus
Though you always hear of delays on the Gowanus in traffic reports. I too always called the whole thing the BQE
I've lived in Brooklyn my whole life, and I don't even drive, and I knew that was called the Gowanus
Parkways:
A 1930's concept designed for low speed motoring by automobile while enjoying the scenery usually built along rivers if possible.
They later proved to be narrow, constricted, twisty and dangerous to drive as the American motoring habits changed.
The Taconic Parkway is a prime example.
Leave the taconic out of this! It’s a fun road
@@johntownsend1837Some sections can be too much fun.
Amazing essay and great visuals. Instant subscription! This video is approached with such specificity and clarity that it is very enjoyable to watch, especially as someone knowledgeable with the area.
When it’s all said and done, I go back to my youth in the sixties growing up in Brooklyn. There were few things I loved more than riding in the car with my dad on the Gowanus. I thought it was a spectacular feat of engineering! The waterfront was still happening with ships from all over, tugboats pulling rail cars over from Jersey, and then coming up on the beautiful sight of the Brooklyn Bridge. I’ll just remember those days and forget later in the eighties when the potholes literally knocked my car out of gear! And the section in the cut is slower than walking.
I've literally never heard this highway called the Gowanus Expressway. I've ONLY ever heard it called the BQE (Brooklyn-Queens Expressway). But yea, this thing needs some serious re-work
Easiest major improvement to it would be the elimination of all on/off ramps. Make it strictly a thru highway. Eliminate one lane in each direction to allow emergency access by way of the ramps barricaded to the public. As a trucker, I avoided travel thru the city unless I had a delivery in one of the Boros. It was always a huge risk to try to drive thru to go to Connecticut...the long way around thru New Jersey was not much more time wise.
I don't think the on and off ramps are the issue here. Every time I go on the Gowanus expressway just above Red Hook there is traffic. However, that traffic comes from the triple cantilever on the BQE, because the lanes merge from 3 to 2. It used to have 3 lanes, but because the increased risk of collapse due to poor maintenance and neglect, it was reduced to 2, which creates traffic further back. The onramp from Atlantic Avenue may seem like an issue, but it's really not. If the police were to give tickets for last second merges, then everything would go smoothly if there were 3 lanes instead of 2.
Between Bay Ridge and Red Hook there is on 1 exit ramp in both directions and no entrance ramps. Reducing the amount of lanes is a horrible idea. It's a gamble everytime I take the bus from Staten Island to Manhattan if I can get to Battery Park in 1 hour or 2 hours. Recently it took over 2 hours from my front door to a doctor on E. 17th St. The bus goes through the Brooklyn Battery tunnel. The Gowanus was bumper to bumper traffic the entire way and there was no accident. That was just every day traffic with all lanes open.
I had a conversation with a DOT official who maintains that those neighborhoods bitch about access to the highway. Cutting down on the ramps works to move traffic but again the public will not stand for cutting off access to a highway they live next too and they pay for.
for real its a big ass book. but the Power Broker is a fantastic book about Robert Moses.
The last Worlds Fair in NYC was 1964-65 not 1959.
1939 Worlds Fair maybe?
This is lifted right out of Caro's book.
...isn't this the BQE...?
Yah right. Ryan assumes the Gow goes all the way north to the Grand Central. LOL
Yes
Bqe (I-278) has traffic 24/7 from before the hugh l carey tunnel until the Brooklyn Bridge, because Brooklyn Bridge is toll free, and it became a 2 lane highway for that stretch.
Well now under Mayor DiBlasio - Brooklyn Bridge was made a 2 lane from a 3 lane so the bicyclist could have a lane, crazy, SMH!
The problem with the BQE is from The Battery Tunnel to Tillary St. They eliminated 1 lane between the Brooklyn n Manhattan bridges.
Not just because of its condition, but any accident or breakdown all but brought that stretch to a stand still. It was partly done to create a "breakdown" area, but people think it's their own personal lane and use it to create more problems because they're too freaking good to wait in line and just move along with everyone else. That city is a lost cause. There is no fixing it or making it better.
What’s dumb is how they made the section between Atlantic ave and Brooklyn bridge exit two lanes instead of 3. There’s always traffic there now no matter what time of day
The best view of Lower Manhattan is from the BQE heading north towards Brooklyn Bridge.
Absolutely agree. That view is absolutely stunning
Asian construction outshines us. Japan could step in and change how we build infrastructure. Cooperation of both America and Japan could help in rebuilding
Finally an answer to the Tri-state area's long asked question; "Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?"
Regarding the Dodgers leaving Brooklyn, Robert Moses was no Saint. And, neither was Walter O'Malley, owner of The Brooklyn Dodgers.
They left because they had better opportunities in the west … mlb was going to expand anyway
The image at 7:53 looks like a film location for the chase segment in the movie The French Connection. I always thought the drive on the Brooklyn - Queens Expressway between Atlantic Ave & Old Fulton St was such a lovey drive. lol
That chase scene (on of my all-time favs) is actually under the elevated subway (D/West End) in Bensonhurst and Gravesend. The elevated part of the BQE shown here is in another neighborhood (Gowanus) and bigger.
I was guessing at the location being the one used for the movie, but it sure looked familiar.@@Jesse615
This whole things reminds me of when someone will keep putting money into a crappy car instead of buying a new one. They’ve put tons of money to keep it a mess instead of knocking it down decades ago. Probably would’ve cost less.
I always considered this part of the BQE. I didn't realize it was the Gowanus. I mean I always hear about the Gowanus on 1010WINS, but I never realized. And I hate it too! Once took me 2 hours to travel less than 5 miles on it.
Early mornings like 4:30 -5 am it's like grand Turismo on that stretch...well up to the cosioscko bridge
I remember driving through NYC for this for time this stretch of road caught my eye. It's like no other road I've been on before. It looks pretty cool but it was so sketch and dilapidated it made me nervous. The terrible traffic made it even more stressful.
Robert Moses was the president of the 1964 / 1965 World's Fair, not the 1959 world's Fair. Also, the overpass that you showed at the beginning of the video it's not a part of the iguanas it is a part of the BQE
14:07 This video is worth a Like just for this image of the lowrider....!!! 👌
“He was at his beak.” Classic Ryan! 😊
At 4:02: there was no 1959 World's Fair. There was a 1939 NYC World's Fair and a 1965 World's Fair, both in the same spot in Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. Robert Moses was in charge of both of them. The "Unisphere" from that Fair is still standing.
Here's an idea: Remove the Gowanus Expressway between 60th Street and Prospect Expressway. Feed the remaining traffic onto 3rd Ave. With all the traffic diverted off I-278, including the BQE, see how much people want a replacement of the Gowanus. Traffic that still needs to run from Staten Island to Queens, the Bronx and Connecticut can go via the Belt Parkway, I-678, and the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge.
Great idea!!! The belt parkway is a parking lot and u wanna put more cars on it duhhhh
@@anthonygallo3576 Is the Gowanus any better? Moreover, the Belt Parkway might be easier to upgrade, given its location. Remember that the Gowanus and the BQE are both due for replacement. Also. the existing Gowanus provides no significant benefit to Brooklynites all along 3rd Ave. Now 3rd Ave. can be restored as a modern boulevard, with ample room for bus lanes and cycleways.
Here's an idea: introduce viable alternatives to driving, and traffic will become a thing of the past.
Because 3rd Ave isn't congested and screwed up enough already, right?
@@haydargokcebay2285 - The idea is to reduce traffic off I-278 solely to what is actually bound for that part of Brooklyn. Through traffic should be routed around the Brooklyn waterfront.
Gee, I always thought the Crash Bronx Distressway was the most hated highway in NYC. You should do a video on it, from the new tunnel and Bus Terminal all the way east via its myriad of exits , interchanges and through routes.
The Cross Bronx doesn’t have the menacing curves that are all too present on the BQE/Gowanus. At least it’s smooth sailing on the Cross Bronx in the middle of the night. Whereas the curves on the latter aren’t going away anytime soon.
😂 Crash Bronx Distressway, what a name. Never really had to travel past the Bronx as a kid but did have family that lived in Rochester. A few times, we'd go to the county fair in Yonkers, a part of Westchester County and that's it, rarely remembered the time there. I never knew how big Yonkers was. Since we only went to Yonkers, I thought Yonkers was its own city or even county since it seems to be bigger than Manhattan. Always thought all the places above the Bronx were just called "____chester" like Eastchester, Westchester, Rochester, etc... Little did I know, Rochester was never a part of Westchester County not even "Rochester" County but is really in Monroe County?! 😮
@@jaimerosado3896 Don't forget the insane turns on The Jackie it's not for novices
Cross Bronx is still one of the worst highways because it is one of the only Crosstown highways in the Bronx as well as the only highway from the Bronx that takes you over the GWB cause it to be a traffic hell for majority of the day.
@@keithharper1470 True! Those curves are no joke!
Why doesn’t the image show the Gowanus? (That’s the double deck section under the Brooklyn-Heights Promenade, which is part of the BQE, not part of the Gowanus)
Funny how his mom was trying to join rich and poor- yet Robert Moses built the bridges on long Island northern and Southern state parkways too low for busses to travel on- to keep blacks out of public beaches on long Island
*And Poor People who relied on buses.
Moses single handedly fucked up Long Island traffic for decades…
I've heard that for years, he didn't want poor inner city folk, especially those of a darker complexion "invading" the Long Island beaches.
The nighttime view of lower Manhattan from the double deck secrion is absolutely beautifully. However, driving the BQE is a nightmare.
I wouldn't want to stay long in Brooklyn either
The quote about him at 5:50 is literally the definition of impartiality. That's not a negative, that's exactly how anyone in government should think.
can anyone tell me at 15:07 what street the picture was taken?
Hamilton Ave
Love double decker road. Brooklyn -Queens expy.... i feel i ve been there in my past life so memorable
I’m 68 years old I come from 19th street in Brooklyn and can tell you that this stretch of road has been under construction since I’m a kid. Roads and subway are a couple of major ways billions are bilked out of the system, this town has been corrupt for more than 160 years now.
This road reminds me of the harbour highway from Mafia 2.
1:05 Lorne Michels is an eternal?
I think tarring down and doing a boulevard like the Embarcadero in San Francisco is a good Idea!
the very first photo isn't the gowanus exp.,it's the BQE where it passes through brooklyn heights
The Brooklyn Queens Expressway Triple deck section makes me want to scream.
The opening picture is the double decker BQE and nothing mentioning about it. That's another history story in itself as how it came to be developed under Brooklyn Heights community.
There is a major repainting if the Gowanus section going on now from 65th st up until the BQE trench at Hamilton Ave,Champion construction is the contractor
Robert Moses wanted to bulldoze half of Manhattan in order to accommodate interstate highways that would blow through the borough.
The World's Fair in New York were in 1939 ans 1964-65. Not 1959.
The bridge is ugly and falling apart. Yet they don't bother fixing it.
as a brooklyn native, we have always called it the gowanus and to explain its logic to strangers, it is just "the elevated portion of third ave", but the whole thing is all BQE, if that makes any sense at all. LOL
So at 12b estimated I’d say it’s more like double or triple that after the work would start. Ask Boston there’s was estimated at 4b and with interest it’s in the 20b area
Take every government estimate and multiply cost by 4 and time by 3 to get something close to what the final numbers will look like..
18:13, damn that deserted Costco parking lot is huge
And you still (usually) have to go around 10-20 mins to find parking when it open.
@@zezozezon8291 Really? Geez, that's a lot of cars. No public transport around the place?
@@alexmercer8042 there is public transit (train and bus about 2-3blocks/ 2000 feet away) but you know Costco; most people buy a lot of stuff and it’s a pain to transport in public transit.
@@alexmercer8042the R train runs by that area
Moses’s face expressions are hilarious
The the resaons for so many crazy turns on the parkways was he was unable to get the right of ways.If it wasn't for his planning there would be no way to drive anwhere with out hundreds of traffic lights...Go down Queens Blvd now as see how long you wait at a red light....it's a Joke.
Welcome to New York
I thought Eastern Parkway was the first Parkway?
Doesn’t help that DeBlasio changed three lanes of traffic into two lanes. And now the city wants to charge congestion pricing for a problem they added too.
I live here and we call it the triple cantalever... i was sitting on the prominade today the top layer.
Not the trench.
The BQE.
Great video but could benefit from more maps to explain exactly where this thing goes.
Also called the "Don't Go On Us" Expressway.
What's the speed limited on something like this? I can not see it being over 50 mph!
Lol. 50 mph as even a traveling speed through there is a dream. On 278 in Staten Island, there is a highway sign that states "upgrade, maintain speed". Makes me laugh every time, because when you're at the sign, you're hardly moving.
Is there a suggested reading list about Robert Moses?
Yes. Read The Power Broker by Robert Caro.
It's outstanding. Long, but well paced and easy to read. One of my favourite books of all time.
The Power Broker is the definitive Moses biography, but a worthwhile addendum is "Robert Moses and The Modern City,' which catalogs the enormous amount of influence he had in shaping New York, through parks, pools, and those notorious highways. It doesn't gloss over his many faults, but provides a detailed compendium of the thousands of projects he oversaw.
old photos! all the photos of the elevated roadway (which is actually the gowanus expressway unlike other photos he showed) is shown as rusty green paint but is currently being repainted a fresh coat of semi gloss green! no need for improvements, just a fresh coat of paint! /sarcasm
I remember when you could actually DRIVE on both the BQE and the Gowanus. Not like today, where you sit still or crawl.
Appartently Robert Moses had no idea that substandard city planning is all ge did & to this day the least of which was the of tearing out 'tenement' housing, old homes of Rockaway Coastline did only harm ~ did not provide housing. The Gowanus Development was a disaster ~ area became dumpsite for toxins sewage ~ although hipster houseboats still exist at Gowanus waterway. Moses had no concept urban planning. No parks were added. Large population of WWII vets returning & migration from South was to have had access to new housing in the Gowanu Area ~ Very Interesting Ryan ~
Premium Coastline revitalized must ge utilized as an escape from Summer Heat & could be a new vital resort like shopping area.
Hope that area might be 'fixed'
To be beautiful means to be yourself. You do not need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.
I would build a tunnel put the gowanus underneath and then put a nice road or park boulevard on top with a light rail for commuters feeding to the subway therefore decreasing the traffic further.
the bqe under the promenade is not the gowanus expressway, only the stretch of road between the verrezano and the tunnel is considered the gowanus expressway, as it because it passes over the stink bomb gowanus canal
Retiring to move to NYC, damn that is really something from the past at this point isn't it
Of course it's hated. The name of the highway has ANUS in it.
Our infrastructure is just fine. 1950’s standards with no maintenance in between!
There a dark cold corner of Hades custom built specifically for Robert Moses.
Keep the Gowanus Expressway for local traffic only, deep tunnel under it.
Light trafic for locals, more service lanes, bikes, interstate traffic in the tunnel.
Where do the trucks go?
@@AdamSmith-gs2dv trucks should be forced to go around cities, not into them. As for trucks that need to deliver goods into the city, part of that can be converted to cargo rail if the infrastructure is sufficiently updated. Also, encouraging the use of smaller trucks that take up less space for city deliveries is the way to go.
You realize the only thing accomplished by adding more lanes/roads does is create more car traffic, right? It's been proven.
@@mikeamber2528yep, because the local corner store needs a tail lone behind it to relieve its goods, and no retailer, especially the big ones are going to pay for 10 - 20 trucks to deliver what one semi can. It would also create more congestion, because now, instead of say in a day a warehouse gets 10 (example only, not actual #. Could be more) 18 wheelers in a day. And usually the show up pretty much all at once. Now take your imaginary scenario and you could have 6 - 8 times as many trucks. Good plan.
Okay... First of all... Much of the roadway you're talking about... ISN'T the Gowanus Expressway. That's the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.
Secondly your "crumbling infrastructure" stock image was the result of the controlled demolition of the Kosciusko Bridge
Along with the political football that is maintaining city infrastructures... the difficulties are compounded by the misplaced moral outrage expressed by commuters due to *ANY* shutdowns or redirects when cities do try to make improvements. It's a lose-lose situation.
Build a tunnel for this area traffic wise just like what Boston did with the Big Dig.
Snow plowing must be a nightmare, surprising those drivers under the plowed street...
you won't like riding Central Park west if you are about to scream on that highway
The problem is the city planning. Creating bottlenecks when none exist before, narrowing lanes and messing up the traffic pattern. On potholes, it's the Dept of Sanitation creating it when they clear snow.
This road has been a disaster since the 1950’s when my Dad used to commute by car every week. It was falling apart then and by some miracle, it’s still falling apart in 2023. How it hasn’t collapsed, I don’t know.
There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
I grew up on LI. Most of this stuff was done 100 years ago. 10% of the roads in the US were paved. He did some job at that time. A tough man, but he did what he did at the time. Don't knock him too hard.
It really is a shame ot wasn't maintained. The triple cantilever might be one of the most beautiful highway sections (engineering not scenery) I've ever seen.
You gotta pay for the suckers at the MTA. Why fix roads when you can piss it away on the subway.
Sadly much of our infrastructure was built as needed with no planning for future expansions if needed. Even with the financial restrictions of such public works, ya would think some engineer thought well enough ahead to have plans set up.
With rising sea level, they need to think twice about a Gowanus tunnel.
All of Robert Moses' roads are heavily utilised, to the point of disrepair.
Which, to my mind, exonerates his legacy. Without them, the city would choke. Freight would be unmoveable. And don't tell me that more rail and public transit could have been built. The fact is that nobody else got things built in NYC as quickly and efficiently as Moses. The fact that it took NYC half a century to build a new subway line is testament to that fact.
Technically that’s the BQE Gowanus doesn’t start until 3rd Ave
You are correct, but I think it officially starts at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.
Man Robert Moses must have been involved in more projects than anybody ever I hear his name come up so much
Not just “involved in” ...
Massively architecting and bulldozing no matter who opposed him.
He was finally stopped, but it came much too late ... he single-handedly destroyed multiple communities, all of them poor/ethnic, none of them white/wealthy.
@@whitetailfox1 The Power Broker is a book of intimidating size, but utterly fascinating study of politics, ambition, and the lasting impact of runaway myopia. Moses worked and studied harder than nearly all his contemporaries, but arguably disfigured the future of NYC and the lives of countless inhabitants in the region. Mr. Caro's book is unforgettable
They should rebuild and remove the gowanus extension of the BQE from 3rd Ave to second Ave by the waterfront
Highways nationwide created housing problems essentially cutting neighborhoods in half. As a result leaving financial and social destruction. Car culture kills community imho😢
Oh please. A metropolis the size of NYC wouldn't function without highways. These were good, and necessary pieces of infrastructure.