The High Stakes of Infrastructure

From The New Yorker’s archive: a selection of pieces about how issues of infrastructure have altered the fate of American cities, towns, and lives. View in browser | Update your preferences The High Stakes of Infrastructure It has been, it seems, “infrastructure week” in Washington since the Truman Administration. Infrastructure is the dullest issue—until you land at Kennedy Airport. Why is the wealthiest country on Earth half a ruin? Why has it been so slow to invest in the necessity of green energy? Now there is a bill of significance, a moment of real promise. This week, Joe Biden is expected to sign into law a $1.2-trillion package with profound investments in transportation, broadband access, and environmentally sound energy systems. Today, we’re bringing you a selection of pieces about the concrete ways in which issues of infrastructure have so often altered the fate of American cities, towns, and lives. In “The Power Broker,” Robert A. Caro profiles Robert Moses, New York’s master builder, a ruthless and autocratic urban planner who shaped his city more than any mayor. The writer and activist Bill McKibben analyzes the environmental features of the new infrastructure bill and asks whether its specifics are adequate in the face of the climate crisis. In “The Big Story Is Still Joe Biden’s Mighty Ambitions,” John Cassidy considers the President’s efforts to reshape America’s municipal and economic agenda; Susan B. Glasser, meanwhile, examines the domestic political challenges that Biden needs to confront in his attempt to sell a divided electorate on civic investment. For most, infrastructure has long been a MEGO subject—“my eyes glaze over”—and yet it is at the center of our politics and our common future. Start with Caro on Moses and you get a deeper sense of why that is. —David Remnick From The New Yorker’s Archive Annals of Politics The Power Broker How Robert Moses got things done. By Robert A. Caro | August 12, 1974 Annals of a Warming Planet Finally, Green Infrastructure Spending in an Amount That Starts with a “T” But is it enough? And how would we know if it were? By Bill McKibben | April 7, 2021 Newsletters Sign Up for The New Yorker’s Movie Club Newsletter Reviews of the current cinema, plus recommendations for classics and underrated treasures available on streaming services, every Friday. Letter from Biden’s Washington Is Biden Really the Second Coming of F.D.R. and L.B.J.? Proposing historic legislation is not transformative; passing it is. By Susan B. Glasser | April 1, 2021 Our Columnists The Big Story Is Still Joe Biden’s Mighty Ambitions The bipartisan infrastructure agreement is just the beginning of the President’s plan to rebalance the U.S. economy. By John Cassidy | June 28, 2021 You’re receiving this e-mail because you signed up for the New Yorker Classics newsletter. Was this e-mail forwarded to you? Sign up. Unsubscribe | Manage your e-mail preferences | Send newsletter feedback | View our Privacy Policy Copyright © Condé Nast 2021. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.