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Manhattan Skyline After roaming through the park, we found the ferry to get over to Liberty Island. There is a rather long line, but we were quite entertained by some rather good acrobats! (but watch out for all the pushy trinket sellers, they were a bit of a pain...) When we finally got onboard the ferry, we rushed to the very top level, and were rewarded by simply spectacular views, like this. Giovanni da Verrazano discovered the site of New York City in 1524. The English navigator Henry Hudson sailed into New York harbor and past the island of Manhattan on September 3, 1609. Hudson was employed by the Dutch West India Company to seek a passage to India from Europe. Although Hudson failed in his quest for a passage to India, his reports to the Dutch West India Company convinced them of the value of the excellent harbor in what is now Lower Manhattan.In 1614, six years before the English Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, a Dutch ship burned and the crew was forced to spend a winter in Manhattan island, while there they built a new ship and took additional stories about the advantages of this location back to Holland. It was a barren, unihabited place, then... looks a little different now, huh? In 1626, Peter Minuit, the director general of the Dutch province of New Netherland made the greatest real estate deal in history by purchasing the island of Manhattan from the local Indians for 24 dollars worth of trinkets! This is a completely true story, honest! (not an urban legend, LOL!) On February 2, 1653 the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam in what is now Lower Manhattan became a city with a population of 800. The Dutch city of New Amsterdam became a trading center between Europeans and Indians. On September 8, 1664 an English fleet sent by the Duke Of York seized the city of New Amsterdam. The English changed the name of the city to New York, there was a brief Dutch invasion and re-occupation in 1673 but in 1674 the English regained New York and the city became a part of the British Empire until American independence. During the American revolution the city was occupied by the British and almost completely burned to the ground during the fighting. In 1789 to 1790 New York was the first capital of the United States under the constitution. George Washington was inaugurated in the city as the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789. 1790 New York City was the largest city in the U.S. with a population of 33,000 it remains the largest city the U.S. with a population, as of the 1990 census, of 7,322,564. (Don't forget to fill out those census forms!!!)
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