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The 400th anniversary of the establishment of the City of New York
The NY 400th Quadricentennial Committee held a Picnic on Governors Island !
On September 14, 2024, a group of people gathered to commemorate the first landing and European settlement in New Netherland by a group of 30 French Huguenot families. This was our kick-off event and will be followed by several more over the course of the next three anniversary years.
ABOUT THE EVENT
In the year 1624 different nationalities including the Indigenous People and many European countries, lived and built a community together in this one place. On September 14th, we are commemorating how these diverse cultures became ‘one’ and created New Amsterdam, now known as New York City.
The Dutch West India Company brought 30 French Huguenot families to establish one of the earliest Dutch settlements in North America on Nutten (now Governors) Island. Within 40 years, New Amsterdam had become a vibrant community of thousands of people from various backgrounds, including the Lenape, Dutch, English, Welsh, Irish, Scots, Germans, French Huguenots, Sephardic Jews, Africans, and others.
Our events, the first one being this picnic, will commemorate this point in our history, which is rich with achievements, yet also marked by sorrow and sin. We want to honor all of their stories: their triumphs, struggles, sacrifices, oppressions, successes and the challenges of our shared history.
