Robert Moses

Moses envisioned New York's newest stadium being built in Flushing Meadows on the former (and as it turned out future) site of the World's Fair in Queens. The Long Island Expressway a true Autobahn intended to relieve traffic congestion on the Island was built by Moses alongside the Parkways. And were it not for Moses’ public infrastructure and his resolve to carve out more space New York might not have been able to recover from the blight and flight of the 1970s and ’80s and become the economic magnet it is today.

It is due to Moses that New York State has a greater proportion of public benefit corporations than any other US state making them the prime mode of infrastructure building and maintenance in New York accounting for 90% of the state's debt. Moses was also in large part responsible for the United Nations' decision to headquarter in Manhattan as opposed to Philadelphia by helping the state secure the money and land needed for the project. Moses's projects were considered by many to be necessary for the region's development after being hit hard by the Great Depression.