New York

Colourful mix of American cultural heritage

New York is alive; New York is bustling. This delightful city in the eastern part of the United States is worth a visit any time of the year. You can immerse yourself in the modern 24-hour economy, in a city that never sleeps.

In New York in the United States it is sometime difficult to choose where to go. The city has several characteristic neighbourhoods with countless sights, fun activities, shopping streets, bars and restaurants. You can go through the city relatively quickly by public transport, but planning a route is useful.

You may not need to see everything, but catching the atmosphere is the most important. What can be done well on a city trip. And New York is typically a city where you can come back more often without getting bored.

A trip to New York is always fun, no matter how many times you have been. It is also a city with a long history. Which is still visible in numerous places.

The amazing Dutch history

Anyone visiting modern New York can hardly imagine that Dutch people once walked around here four centuries ago. New York is then a wild open field, without any buildings. In 1621 Dutch people arrive here, of whom we don’t know too much; the fur traders.

The story that Dutch traders in the seventeenth century exchanged New York (then called New Amsterdam) for Suriname is almost known. A story that is not true by the way. It was not a trade, but a forced sale. This past did lay the foundation for a mix of cultures that New York still lives on. Exploring the city is a cultural discovery in itself.

Roaming the streets of New York.

The Dutch heard of this area through the Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano, who was the first explorer to set foot. That was already in 1524, while in 1609 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) sends the Englishman Henry Hudson to explore the area. He sails up the river and discovers the present-day Manhattan. Later the Hudson River was named after him.

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Trade with the Indians

While the English tried to set up agriculture a little further north, the Dutch mainly traded fur with the Indians. A very lucrative business. In 1626 the merchant Peter Minuit buys the land on present-day Manhattan from the local Indians. He gives them trinkets worth no more than 60 guilders.

The slow-growing city is called New Amsterdam. Villages and farms have sprung up everywhere, but new settlers are scarce. Things are going far too well at home for that, while the future is uncertain here. There are still memories of this past to be found, as the Walstraat degenerates into the world-famous Wall Street.