New York is the most European city in the United States. Founded by the Dutch, colonized by the British, we have long been the door between the U.S. and Europe.
A City of Immigrants
After the Indigenous Lenape Delaware, we are a city of immigrants. Manahatta’s first immigrant was African-Dominican Juan Rodríguez in 1613.
In 1624, the Dutch brought a focus on making money to New Amsterdam. In 1626 New Amsterdam became a slave town. In 1652, Africans were forced to build the wall on Wall Street. In 1654, a Portuguese-Jewish community fleeing the Inquisition in Brazil made New Amsterdam an open city. New York has welcomed immigrants ever since.
In 1664, Dutch New Amsterdam first became English New York. In 1711 New York put up a slave market at Wall St and Pearl St. After the Great Famine of 1845, Irish brought Roman Catholicism. Italians came in multiple waves before and after 1900.
The French gave us the Statue of Liberty. Jewish-American poet Emma Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus” in 1883 to raise money for Lady Liberty. She was dedicated in 1886.
The second verse of “The New Colossus” is the most famous. The original is in the American Jewish Historical Society near Union Square.
Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus,” 1883
with silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breath free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
So this is New York City. Immigration has moved to the Caribbean and South America, but our beginnings were European. Today we are All In NYC.
French
Ballet
Lingerie
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Bastille Day on 60th St
Rendez-vous French Cinema
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Statue of Liberty
Met Cloisters
FIAF
Le District
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Hermès
Louis Vuitton
Chanel
Givenchy
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Barbès
Italian
Christmas
Easter
Columbus Day Parade
Feast of San Gennaro
Metropolitan Opera
Italian Cultural Institute
Gucci
Fendi
Prada
Valentino
Dolce & Gabbana
Portuguese
Portugal Day Newark
Fado Festival
Luso American Cultural Center
Romanian
Romanian Cultural Institute
Brâncuși at the Guggenheim
Spanish
Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Day Parade
Columbus Day Parade
Flamenco Festival
Hispanic Society
Instituto Cervantes
King Juan Carlos Center
La Nacional
Centro Español
Goya Foods
Zara
Desigual
Mango
Balenciaga
Manolo Blahnik
Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada
Tous
Uno de 50
Lladró
Camper
Pretty Ballerinas
Menkes
“There is no way I’m going back to Mexico. I can’t stand to be in a country that is more surrealist than my paintings”
Yes the great Spanish surrealist really said that. And that pretty much says it all. Welcome to America! We are glad you were here.