Belgium TV covered the Picnic on Governors Island (originally Paggank Island) hosted by the NY Quadreicentennial Committee that commemmorted the landing of the first European settler in New York in 1624 on the island.
Toya Dubin, founder of the Mapping Early New York Project and a Trustee of the New Amsterdam History Center, presented a talk of what it was like for those first couragous people at the picnic.
From a small settlement founded by a Walloon to a world city with millions of inhabitants: New York is 400 years old
The New York Quadricentennial Committee hosted a picnic on Governors Island on September 14, 2024 to commemorate the landing of the first European settlers in Manhattan.
In 1624, people of different nationalities—including Indigenous peoples and Europeans—began building a community that would become New Amsterdam, now New York City. On September 14th, we commemorate how these diverse cultures came together to create this unique settlement.
The Dutch West India Company brought 30 French Huguenot families to establish one of the earliest Dutch settlements on Nutten (now Governors) Island. Over the next 40 years, New Amsterdam thrived, becoming home to thousands, including the Lenape, Dutch, English, Irish, Scots, Germans, French Huguenots, Sephardic Jews, Africans, and others.
The mission of the NY Quadricentennial Committee is to commemorate the 400th anniversaries of the founding of New York and bring awareness of it's rich history. They aim to honor the complexity of this shared history—celebrating achievements, while recognizing struggles, sacrifices, and the challenges faced by all who contributed to this community.
A short snipped of Toya Dubin's presentation at the picnic.
