Perlman was a typical ironhanded executive who helped set the stage for the social revolution. While he left the Rio Grande in good shape financially, his lack of civility helped set the stage for the for the social backlash that followed starting in the 1960's. I don't know if he got blamed for the NYC's demise, but he spent a lot of time in Isreal after its begining helping them build an infastructure based on trucks and not steel rails.
Perlman and people like him wantonly tore down a tremendous amount of history. Anyone remember David Moffat's house and what happened to it? I'm sure Perlman warmed up in his grave when they tore it down. In a sense we have Perlman to thank for negatively starting the historic preservation movement.