Changing (Part 3 of 7)

Core idea

The third part of Changing gets specific. The Sixth Avenue El came down (after decades of Tammany failure to demolish it); the Independent Subway underneath finally opened. Riverside Park, in the long stretch from 72nd Street to 152nd Street, got the elevated West Side Highway as its eastern boundary — a noise wall and a barrier between residential blocks and the river. Caro shows how the same Moses-era choices that delivered the IND subway under Sixth Avenue (a win for downtown Manhattan) also delivered an elevated highway through Riverside Park (a loss for the Upper West Side and Harlem).

Why it matters

The Sixth Avenue El demolition

The Sixth Avenue Elevated Railway had blocked the Sixth Avenue subway since 1925. Moses took its demolition as a personal project in 1939 — the new IND line could finally surface light and air on the avenue. The demolition was widely celebrated.

Riverside Park's elevated highway

Less celebrated: the West Side Highway, elevated from 72nd to 152nd, ran along the eastern edge of Riverside Park. The road brought traffic noise and physical separation between residential blocks and the river. The southern, white-affluent stretch (south of 110th) was developed lavishly; the northern stretch (110th to 152nd, including Harlem) was developed cheaply. Caro contrasts the per-mile spending: $8 million per mile south of 110th, $1.7 million per mile north.

Key takeaways

Mental model

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Practical application

Example

Federal highway spending on the Cross-Bronx Expressway through East Tremont vs the same expressway through Westchester showed similar per-unit asymmetries thirty years later. The pattern is consistent.

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