Week II: Robert Moses, Eminent Domain, And The Ancestor Of The Brooklyn Nets

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed.” – Albert Einstein

 “While there is a lower class, I am in it, while there is a criminal element, I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free.” – Eugene Debs 

“For me, I always try and deliver. Regardless of the situation, I always try and play hard every time I step out on the court. If I don’t deliver and play well, then I know I haven’t been working hard enough.” – Benjamin David Simmons

 “Humans have a tale of blind men feeling an elephant. Each touches a different part. The one who touches a trunk says an elephant is like a snake, the next touches a leg and says it’s like a tree trunk, and so on. They’re all right and all wrong. Religion is blind men touching God. Imagination in its purest form.” – Nightmare in Marvel’s Symbiote Spider-Man: Alien Reality #5 

Preface: In order to understand the history of the topic being written about in this post, one must first come to understand the nature of the things being described. Although their origins are ultimately lost to antiquity, what can be understood about them is this: Generally speaking, most myths state that the subject of the thing you are currently reading began some time ago. This birth would result in a migration of the thing that resulted from the previous sentence. Later, the idea would be claimed ownership over by others. It would later gain more independence and become its own separate thing. 

Unfortunately, how much is truth and how much is myth is unknown due to the antiquity of these tales, the uncertainty as to the origins of the thing above, and the constant cycle of life and death literally rewriting the lives and memories of those involved. What can be confirmed is that the thing above happened at some point in the past. It would come to have effects. 

Similarly, all dates referenced here are approximations. Humans have adjusted and re-adjusted their clocks so much throughout history that a precise measurement of time would be nearly impossible, but all dates will be roughly approximated from the time of Christ’s birth. Also, under Einstein’s special theory of relativity, time is relative based on the perspective of the viewer, and time can be diluted based on the speed closest to light. One could reasonably assume that because of an increase in high speed travel, time in the present is worth less than time before due to time dilution. Readers should assume that listed dates have a variation of about ±4 years, possibly more. 

Preface ends here. 

It’s game night at Barclay’s Center: Brooklyn Nets versus Charlotte Hornets. As the game ends, the jumbotron shows Nets win 102 – 86. The Brooklyn Nets are truly the spirit of Brooklyn. They’re a team for Brooklyn to call their own. But what not every fan knows is that just south of the block was the proposed Dodger Dome for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team. The Brooklyn Dodgers were a beloved baseball team based in Brooklyn, New York, and even won a World Series in 1955, defeating their long-time rivals, the New York Yankees. However, in 1958, owner Walter O’Malley decided to move the team to LA, to the dismay of many loyal fans. According to legend, “If you asked a Brooklyn Dodger fan, if you had a gun with only two bullets in it and were in a room with Hitler, Stalin and O’Malley, who would you shoot? The answer: O’Malley, twice!” 

In the 1950s, Walter O’Malley, the owner of the beloved Brooklyn Dodgers Major League Baseball team, wanted to move the team to a better stadium on an intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in Brooklyn. He asked Robert Moses, New York’s housing czar at the time, to give the land under a provision of the Federal Housing Act of 1949, which would allow O’Malley to take the land. Moses responded, “I don’t think that a privately owned ballpark fulfills a public purpose at all, and I’m not going to use Title I to get you this land. If you want the land, buy it like everybody else would.” He was also concerned about traffic jams that the new stadium could cause and suggested O’Malley move the new stadium to Flushing Meadows in Queens. O’Malley saw it as impossible because the team was named the Brooklyn Dodgers and later controversially moved them to Los Angeles, California, where there would be much more land. However, the story gets more complicated in 2003 when the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association moved to Brooklyn and their new arena, the Barclays Center, ironically located near the same spot where the proposed Dodgers stadium would be. Despite concerns over the use of the eminent domain, environmental concerns by activist groups, and the destruction of over 26 buildings in that area, the arena was still built. 

So in this story, eminent domain was used despite the same concerns presented in 2003. Over 50 years of differences, the same piece of land was eventually used to build a sports stadium, despite the destruction of neighborhoods and skyscrapers in the area. This story shows that there is never a clear answer to the use of the eminent domain. When does the public good overcome the rights of private citizens? How can governments overcome and come back from this? Despite the end of the Brooklyn Dodgers, their legacy can still be seen in New York to this day. When the New York Mets were founded, their logo used parts of the Dodger’s iconic Dodger Blue. The Mets would ironically end up playing in Shea Stadium, located where Robert Moses had proposed the Dodgers move to. When the Mets moved to Citi Field, their new arena would eerily look similar to the Ebbets Field the Dodgers played in. Later, when the Nets moved to Barclay’s Center, they would hang a flag showing the old Dodger’s plaque alongside the flagpole. To this day, Dodger Blue remains a color used for designing web pages.

While Brooklyn residents may no longer have the baseball team to cheer for, they still have another major sports team in the Brooklyn Nets. Although the Nets may not play the same sport as the Dodgers, hopefully, they can show the same grit and Brooklyn spirit that made the Dodgers so lovable in the beginning. 

And while the team that plays where O’Malley originally wanted his stadium isn’t the sport he dedicated his life and legacy towards, maybe he can still feel something knowing that he ultimately got what he wanted. 

Eendraght Maeckt Maght 

Acknowledgments: The author would like to thank each of the various authors of the sources used in the bibliography for their work. All of these sources combined helped formulate the story being told. 

The author would also like to thank the Internet Archive group for helping providing free access to Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, Volume 1. The book was interesting in its approximation of Christ’s birth as around 6 to 4 BC, furthering giving evidence to the section in the preface of times having a variation of about ±4 years. The author does not condone the actions of the Internet Archive group. 

The author has surely forgotten someone. If that person is you, then they sincerely apologize.

 Bibliography:

1. Calder, Rich. “Ebbets Field Flagpole Back In Use Outside Barclays Center.” New York Post, New York Post, 12 Dec. 2012, Https://Nypost.Com/2012/12/12/Ebbets-Field-Flagpole-Back-In-Use-Outside-Barclays-Center/.
2. Colon, David. “Why Robert Moses Is To Blame For Losing The Brooklyn Dodgers To L.A.” Gothamist, 2 June 2017, Https://Gothamist.Com/Arts-Entertainment/Why-Robert-Moses-Is-To-Blame-For-Losing-The-Brooklyn-Dodgers-To-La.
3. Dunn, James D. G. “Jesus Remembered (Christianity In The Making, Vol. 1) : James D. G. Dunn : Free Download, Borrow, And Streaming.” Internet Archive, Eerdmans, 1 Jan. 1970, Https://Archive.Org/Details/Jesusrememberedc00jame.
4. Haber, Jason. “Ebbets Field Opened In 1913. 108 Years Ago Today.” Medium, Medium, 9 Apr. 2021, Https://Jasonhaber.Medium.Com/Ebbets-Field-Opened-In-1913-108-Years-Ago-Today-3040579410a6.
5. Hinckley, David. “The Story Behind The Brooklyn Dodgers’ Move To Los Angeles.” New York Daily News, 12 Jan. 2019, Https://Www.Nydailynews.Com/Entertainment/Story-Behind-Brooklyn-Dodgers-Move-Los-Angeles-Article-1.805022.
6. “HTML Color Codes And Names.” Computer Hope, 31 Jan. 2023, Https://Www.Computerhope.Com/Htmcolor.Htm.
7. “Los Angeles Dodgers.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 14 Mar. 2023, Https://Www.Britannica.Com/Topic/Los-Angeles-Dodgers.
8. “Mets Franchise Timeline: 1960s: New York Mets.” MLB.Com, Https://Www.Mlb.Com/Mets/History/Timeline-1960s.
9. Roberts, Tom, And Siegmar Schleif. “What Is The Experimental Basis Of Special Relativity?” Experimental Basis Of Special Relativity, 2007, Http://Www.Edu-Observatory.Org/Physics-Faq/Relativity/SR/Experiments.Html.
10. “The Fall Of The Atlantic Yards Megaplan — New York Magazine – Nymag.” New York Magazine, 11 Apr. 2019, Https://Nymag.Com/News/Intelligencer/Topic/55684/.
11. Image Sources
12. Haber, Jason. “Ebbets Field Opened In 1913. 108 Years Ago Today.” Medium, Medium, 9 Apr. 2021, Https://Jasonhaber.Medium.Com/Ebbets-Field-Opened-In-1913-108-Years-Ago-Today-3040579410a6.