In this route you'll pass the following places: Harlem, Columbia University, Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Central Park, Times Square, Flatiron Building, Empire State Building, Greenwich Village, Chinatown, SoHo, Wall Street, One World Trade Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Statue of Liberty, Prospect Park
We dare to say everybody knows New York. We've seen this city in countless movies and series, photography, songs and travel books. It's the home of some of your favorite superheroes, movie and broadway stars and many, many yellow cabs. Cycling through this city is a treat for the eyes, but can be even more interesting with a bit of a background story. Do you know the origin of NYC?
Manhattan was known as Lenapehoking and inhabited by Algonquian Native Americans, including the Lenape. In 1524, the first European explorer, Italian Giovanni da Verrazzano, arrived, in service of the French crown, which he claimed the land for and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. While he is the explorer credited for the discovery of the New York Harbor, it is assumed he did not not sail further then the bridge which is now named after him, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, which connects the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn.
Shortly after the Portuguese captain Estêvão Gomes arrived in the New York Harbor (January of 1525), in name of the Emperor Charles V. He sailed the river that is now known as the Hudson River and named it Río de San Antonio.
New York Harbor was rediscovered on the 11th of September in 1609, by the English explorer Henry Hudson. He was searching for the Northwest Passage to the Orient for the Dutch East India Company when he came across it. He sailed up the now known Hudson River, which he called the Mauritius. The river was described as a great, broad river full of fish. Hoping to find the ocean at the end of the river, Henry continued for 150 miles (240 km) north, until the river was too narrow to be able to continue. After exploring the area for ten days he claimed the region for the Dutch East India Company. He quickly found that selling fur to Europe could lead to a great fortune. Henry led many Dutch trading ships to the area. The Native Americans and the Dutch traded with each other, but the Dutch didn't permanently settle in the area they called Nieuw-Nederland until 1624.
In 1626, the Dutch colonial Director-General Peter Minuit "purchased" the island of Manhattan from the Canarsie, a small Lenape band. He gave them 60 guilders (which would now be around 900 dollar or 700 euros), hardly a fair trade. In 1647 Peter Stuyvesant became the next (and last) Director-General of Nieuw-Nederland. In 1653 they built a wall between them and the Native Americans. This street is now known as Wall Street.
Right before the Second Anglo-Dutch War, the English troops claimed New Amsterdam in 1664, without a fight because Peter Stuyvesant was unable to equal their troops. They did agree that the residents were allowed to stay and have religious freedom. Now New Amsterdam became New York, after the Duke of York.