I almost grumbled a bit about the difficulty of finding that book, but then I decided to check the university library one more time — and bang! this time The Power Broker was there.

A bit of investigation revealed that apparently the gnomes who designed the library’s electric system decided that a book catalogued as “The Power Broker” would be found if one searched for “Power Broker”, but would remain hidden should the search string be “The Power Broker” instead.

I wish I was kidding.

Thanks for mentioning the book, and thus helping find it!

For example, a summary of one of the book’s many fascinating vignettes: During the ’30s, Moses deployed 5400 workers on the WPA payroll to “build up” the marshland near Coney Island by filling it in with sand and thus making it a viable site for property development. Moses didn’t trust government labor – he once classified all his employees as “villains” – and one blustery afternoon, he and a deputy sneaked into the cupola of a nearby mansion to observe them at work. What Moses saw confirmed his suspicions: thousands of men sitting idle, passing wine, playing dice, and burning the handles of their tools for warmth.

Years later, Moses responded by “filling in” the marsh himself — that is, with raw sewage, delivered by dump truck, straight from the Coney Island reclamation plant.