10 NYC Streets from the Original Dutch Colonial Street Grid
The street names of Lower Manhattan’s grid reveal the history of New York City from its time under Dutch and British colonial rule through the Revolutionary War.
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NYC Filming Locations for New Amsterdam, New Medical Drama on NBC
New Amsterdam is a new medical drama on NBC that focuses on a public hospital in Manhattan, based on the real Bellevue Hospital, located in Manhattan.
MoreThrow Back Thursday 1654: The First Rosh Hashanah in North America
On September 12, 1654 the first Rosh Hashanah services in the North America were held in New Amsterdam. That’s right, we’re headed to the Stuyvesant administration.
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17 Historical Theaters in NYC’s Times Square
NYC’s Times Square has become one of the most famous theater districts in the world. Take a look at 17 of the area’s historic theaters, some of still standing, while others were lost to development.
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10 Things the Dutch Introduced to NYC and America from Bowling to Santa Claus to Democracy
10 things the Dutch introduced into American culture through its tiny island outpost in NYC from cookies, Santa Claus, democracy, bowling, doughnuts and more
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New Amsterdam’s Gay Scene: The Queer Case of Harmen van den Bogaert in Early NYC
Harmen van den Bogaert was the first death due to sexual preference in Dutch New Amsterdam and his harrowing escape and capture was recorded in a journal.
MoreToday in NYC History: In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant Takes the Reins in New Netherland
Stuyvesant at the invasion of New Amsterdam by English forces in 1664. Image via Wikimedia Commons
New Amsterdam in the early 1640s was a mess. Trash was strewn about the muddy streets, drunken sailors and farm animals ambled about, and New Netherland’s small population was huddled up in Manhattan after a bruising war against …
MoreToday in NYC History: How The Dutch Actually Bought Manhattan (The Long Version)
1916 Redrawing of The Castello Plan, map of 1660 New Amsterdam via Wikimedia Commons.
On May 4, 1626, Peter Minuit arrived in New Amsterdam as the new director from the Dutch West India Company. Minuit was in his early 30s, and had been sent to diversify the trade coming out of New Netherland, then almost exclusively …
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Today in NYC History: A 1643 Massacre of the Lenape Almost Dooms New Amsterdam
During the late 1630s, New Netherland was being encroached on all sides. The Dutch-led Pavonia Massacre in turn sparked revenge by the Algonquin tribes.
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Today in NYC History: Residents of New Amsterdam Win Recognition from the Dutch Government in 1653
New Yorkers have been agitators and disrupters from the start, even back when New Amsterdam was just a small settlement on the tip of Manhattan. On this date February 2nd in 1653, New Amsterdam was officially declared a municipality by the Dutch government.
During the 1620s, New Amsterdam was set up as a trading …
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On This Day in NYC History, December 2: 1657 Legislation Banned Household Goods as a Method of Payment for Liquor
On this Day in NYC History: December 2nd, 1657, the Nieuw Amsterdam City Council enacted legislation banning household goods as mean of payment for alcohol.
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