Driving (Part 1 of 3)

Core idea

Driving (the second of three topics by that title) returns to operating-tempo. Moses had concluded that only federal funding could finance the city remaking he wanted. Through 1937-1940 he cultivated Hopkins at WPA and worked around Ickes at PWA. The result was billions in federal money flowing into NYC public works at a pace no other American city achieved. Caro spends the topic on the financing mechanism because the construction would have been impossible without it.

Why it matters

Hopkins at WPA — the productive relationship

Harry Hopkins ran the Works Progress Administration with much less of Ickes's personal animus toward Moses. Hopkins distributed money on the basis of project readiness; Moses had projects ready. The WPA-Parks pipeline produced more output than any other city's WPA allocation.

Working around Ickes

Where Ickes blocked PWA funding, Moses routed through alternative federal sources — the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, RFC loans, occasional direct congressional appropriations. The friction with Ickes was real but workable.

Key takeaways

Mental model

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Practical application

Example

Universities facing hostile state legislatures often pivot to federal research dollars, private foundations, and tuition revenue. The mix shifts; the organization survives. Moses-with-multiple-feds is the same portfolio logic at city-construction scale.

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