Saving Fire Island from Robert Moses: The Fight for a National Seashore

By: Christopher C. Verga

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Synopsis: Small coastal communities stand up to the giant of mid-20th century urban development in this chronicle of a true David and Goliath drama. With its unspoiled, tranquil shorelines, Fire Island has been an oasis for vacationers for well over a century. But from the late 1930s into the early 1960s, it was an obsession for Robert Moses, the political power broker and "master builder" who reshaped much of New York. His urban development projects helped create Long Island&’s suburbs, and he dreamed of turning Fire Island into an extension of Ocean Parkway. Standing up to those ambitions were the seventeen individualistic communities of Fire Island, unified in their love for their sun-washed sandy beaches. To maintain a traditional way of life with limited access to motor vehicles, the community began the fight for federal protection through the creation of the Fire Island National Seashore.