Jane Holtz Kay writes about the rise and triumph of Jane Jacobs in her review of Anthony Flint's new book, Wrestling with Moses: How Jane.... Jane Holtz Kay writes about the rise and triumph of Jane Jacobs in her review of Anthony Flint's new book, Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York’s Master Builder and Transformed the American City.

An excerpt:

The struggle began in Manhattan's West Village, and moved in time to her writing of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which resonated across the nation to Boston, Philadelphia, and, indeed, St. Louis, and across the world.

And there was no mistaking her message. As the banner headline read, in a Random House advertisement of her book: "The City Planners are Ravaging Our Cities!" Now, with Jacobs at the helm, it was being said publicly: the men who were supposed to be improving American cities were, incredibly, startlingly, laying waste to them.

But then there was Moses--Robert Moses, the great power broker of his day, whose decades of activity encompassed such urban highlights as Lincoln Center, Central Park Zoo, Jones Beach. Yet he had his dark side: running highways roughshod across New York that would have destroyed Jane Jacobs' Washington Square Park and the West Village neighborhood. And, here, her battle began, as, against all odds she dared to launch the cause, and ended up winning.

Read the entire review at Citiwire.net.