Robert Moses (1888–1981) held a series of powerful public offices and did more than anyone to shape the roads of New York. Beginning in the 1920s with the Long Island State Park Commission, he built parkways such as the Southern State, Northern State and Wantagh, and later the Henry Hudson, Grand Central and Belt Parkways, along with bridges, tunnels, expressways and Jones Beach. His parkways were designed for passenger cars, with landscaped borders and low stone overpasses, which is why commercial vehicles are banned from them to this day.

At a glance
Robert Moses 1888–1981
Famous parkways Southern State, Northern State, Wantagh, Henry Hudson, Grand Central, Belt, Cross Island
Other projects Jones Beach, Triborough (RFK) Bridge, Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, Cross Bronx Expressway
Legacy Parkways closed to commercial vehicles; debated urban impact

The parkway idea

Parkways were meant to be pleasure drives: roads through parkland, with gentle curves and bridges faced in stone. Moses used them to connect New York City to new state parks and beaches on Long Island, such as Jones Beach, which opened in 1929.

Low bridges

Many parkway overpasses have low clearances. The biographer Robert Caro famously claimed Moses built them low to keep buses — and the poorer New Yorkers who relied on them — away from his beaches. Historians still debate that claim, but the practical result is clear: trucks, buses and many commercial vehicles cannot fit safely, and every year tall vehicles strike parkway bridges.

Beyond parkways

Moses later built expressways that cut through neighborhoods, including the Cross Bronx Expressway. His power and methods were criticized, and opposition to his plans, such as a proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway, helped change urban planning.

What it means for your ride

Professional chauffeurs plan routes with parkway rules in mind. Passenger cars and SUVs can use parkways, while larger vehicles such as vans may need to take expressways instead — which can affect travel times to JFK, LaGuardia and Long Island. Read the Long Island Expressway history and JFK to Manhattan.