Reviews for Last Three Miles: Politics, Murder and the Construction of America's First Superhighway

The average rating for Last Three Miles: Politics, Murder and the Construction of America's First Superhighway based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-04-29 00:00:00 Ryan Verschoore A quick, fun read that is putatively about the monstrous Pulaski Skyway leading into Manhattan, but is really about everything from early highways to Jersey politics to (most notably) Boss Frank Hague's Jersey City machine. Frank Hague used mob muscle and gambling money to ascend to the head of the Jersey City government in 1917, and from then until 1948 he ran the city like some princes ran their countries. The police regularly monitored Western Union telegrams, tapped telephones, beat up public speakers, arrested people in bars for insulting the mayor, and put outsiders who promised to cause trouble (like Socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas) on quick ferries to New York. Besides gamblers and Jersey mob boss Frank Zwillman, Hague also tied his machine to Teddy Brandle, an ironworker union leader who also started his own construction insurance company (Brandlegrams) and labor-associated bank. He helped Hague run the city, but broke with him over the construction of the Jersey City Medical Center contracts, and later over the Pulaski Skyway. When the contractors on that bridge chose in 1930 to use non-Brandle labor, their projects were surrounded by hired thugs who threw rocks and threatened to kill the "scabs." Two murders and several beatings resulted and Hague succeeded in destroying Brandle's career. He in turn morphed into one of the most rabidly anti-labor mayors in the country, placing police on incoming highways to intercept CIO organizers, for instance, at least until the Supreme Court told him to stop in 1939. Overall this a solid work of popular history that's a great introduction to urban political machine and road politics.

Review # 2 was written on 2015-08-03 00:00:00 Kendal Dittmer Good, crisp narration. However, this book did not wholly win me over. I think someone from the area and a commuter over the Pulaski Skyway and Holland Tunnel would be much more interested. Also, labor politics, union organization (such as the fitful birth of the CIO),and Mayor of Jersey City Frank Hague's political machine of corruption and bossism all figure highly in here. These are very interesting sociological dimensions and recent history of the 1930s, but I was hoping for more engineering challenges.