I’m fascinated by the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which never got built. Initiated by Robert Moses in the early 1960s, it would have cut a huge swath across lower Manhattan from the Holland Tunnel to the Williamsburg Bridge. It would have destroyed parts of the West Village, SoHo and its many wonderful cast-iron buldings, and Chinatown. Here’s a tour of the route it would have taken.

I think of this because of what I saw on TV yesterday. If you love New York City history, you’ve got to watch New York: A Documentary Film, a 17.5-hour documentary by Ric Burns. There were originally seven episodes, but after 9/11, Burns created an eighth episode, covering the rise and fall of the World Trade Center. This weekend I re-watched Episode 6, which happened to be on TV. Episode 7’s on this week, which I’ve also already seen but plan to watch again.

The center of Episodes 6 and 7 is Robert Moses, the man who utterly transformed the city through his massive construction projects. The Power Broker is essential reading on Moses, but Episodes 6 and 7 of the documentary are sort of a Cliff’s Notes to the book and include much commentary by its author, Robert Caro.

Robert Moses is still relevant today — his name has often come up in discussions of the proposed West Side redevelopment and Jets stadium and of the redesign of lower Manhattan.

Here’s a good condensed description of the battle over the Lower Manhattan Expressway.

When Moses looked at Manhattan he saw pavement. There was also the proposed Mid-Manhattan Expressway, which would have gone across 30th Street. Robert Stern derided it: “Can you imagine an elevated expressway at 30th Street just so Long Island guys could get to New Jersey?”

One of the best things about Manhattan is being able to walk along its streets and experience the spontaneity of city life. Had Moses had his way, this would be impossible today.