Robert Moses U.S. Grand Prix at Jones Beach USGPJB

RM

"It was the scale of the thing -- nothing like this had ever been done in public recreation in America,'' one of the architects would recall later.

"Here we were on an absolutely deserted sand bar - there was no way even to get there except by boat -- and here was this guy drawing X's on the back of an envelope and talking about bathhouses like palaces and parking lots that held ten thousand cars."

....."We thought he was nuts.''

He was not nuts. He was Robert Moses.

Decades later, in a quiet moment when his years were winding down, and most of his monument-building was behind him, Moses was asked what he was proudest of. "That's easy,'' he replied. “Jones Beach.'’

Partial excerpt from Robert A. Caro's Pulitzer Prize-winning book ~ "The Power Broker."

In his many roles in New York City and New York State Government, Robert Moses, "The Master Builder," also known as "RM," would come to build much of New York, as we know and see it today, including Jones Beach State Park.

The Master Builder

The face of New York.

The following are a small number of projects completed by Robert Moses.

Beach Parks: Jones Beach, Orchard Beach Park, Riis Park.

Bridges: The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, Triborough Bridge, Whitestone Bridge, Throgs Neck Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Robert Moses Causeway, Alexander Hamilton Bridge, Henry Hudson Bridge, Marine Parkway Bridge.

Buildings: The United Nations, Lincoln Center, The Worlds Fair Park in Corona, Queens, The original Shea Stadium.

Highways: Grand Central Parkway, Cross Island Parkway, Belt Parkway, Harlem River Drive, Major Deegan, Cross-Bronx Expressway, Henry Hudson Parkway, Hutchinson River Parkway, Saw Mill River Parkway. Southern State, Northern State, Wantagh, Sagtikos, Sunken Meadow, and Meadowbrook Parkways, respectively.

Islands: Randall's Island, Ward's Island.

Dams: Robert Moses Dam at Massena, Robert Moses Dam at Niagara, Long Sault Control Dam.