Department of Marine and Aviation photographs. NYC Municipal Archives.

Whitehall Terminal

WPA Federal Writers’ Project photograph, NYC Municipal Archives.

This Municipal Ferry route was in operation from 1921-1939. It ran between Clason Point in the Bronx and College Point in Queens. Department of Marine and Aviation photographs. NYC Municipal Archives.

Department of Bridges, Plant &amp; Structures photograph, NYC Municipal Archives.

In the original design, the terminal had two buildings, one with two slips going between Whitehall-Saint George (opened in 1906), and the other for the 39th Street Ferry that went to South Brooklyn (opened in 1909). It is now called the Battery Maritime Building and was listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Department of Docks and Ferries photographs, NYC Municipal Archives.

The second ferry route to be acquired by the City was the Whitehall Street-39th Street (Brooklyn) route that it took over from The New York and South Brooklyn Ferry and Transportation Company in 1906. Department of Dock and Ferries photographs. NYC Municipal Archives.

The new court was given legislative authority “between the two rivers to the Fresh Water [the pond at around Worth Street]” but in matters of criminal justice their authority extended the whole of the island and included “the inhabitants of Amersfoort, Breuckelen and Midtwout,” Dutch towns in present-day Brooklyn. The burgomasters were also charged with “alignment of houses, streets and fences… in an orderly fashion,” and developing any needed public buildings “such as churches, schools, a court house, weigh house, charitable institutions, dock, pier, bridges and other similar works….” And also, the ability to designate public officers such as “orphan masters, church masters, surveyors, fire wardens” as the need would arise. It was not quite the representative government that we think of today, but it was the start of the municipal government of what would become New York City.

on February 2nd, 1653 as instructed by the Dutch West India Company on April 2, 1652. Kip probably sent this document in 1656 to the Company, where Hans Blumenthal, a director in Amsterdam, made his own copy. Both documents ended up in the Blumenthal papers at the New York Public Library. Reproduction from I.N. Stokes, Iconography of Manhattan Island, vol. IV plate 9. NYC Municipal Library.

Netherland Monument

On the right page the clerk recorded the first day of court on February 6th, 1653. Records of New Amsterdam.

George Hayward, lithographer“...somewhere near ranges of grim-looking warehouses, with rusty iron doors and shutters, and tiled roofs; and old anchors and chain-cables piled on the walk. Old-fashioned coffee-houses, also, much abound in that neighborhood, with sun-burnt sea-captains going in and out, smoking cigars, and talking about Havana, London, and Calcutta.<a href="https://culturenow.org/people/herman-melville?name=Herman_Melville">[1]</a>” -Herman Melville, Redburn

Coffee House Slip

City Council Chamber

Waldorf Astoria

Program for Presentation of the City of New York Medallion of Honor, to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

They closed their doors on April 9, 2014, they are now an online electronics and music retailer, based in New York City. The family-owned, heavily trafficked electronics store on Park Row closed after 43 years.&nbsp;

In 1979 they moved to Tweed Courthouse and J&amp;amp;R Music World took over the space.   

Fort Gansevoort, also called the White Fort, was a U.S. Army fort built in Manhattan during the War of 1812. Named after Revolutionary War officer Peter Gansevoort, it mounted 22 guns and included barracks, a magazine, and a shot furnace. The fort was positioned strategically to defend the Hudson River.

Fort Gansevoort never saw combat, as New York City was not attacked in that war. It was demolished in either 1849 (or 1854).

The Hard Hat Riot occurred in NYC, when around 400 construction workers and around 800 office workers attacked around 1,000 demonstrators affiliated with the student strike of 1970. The students were protesting the May 4 Kent State shootings and the Vietnam War, following the April 30 announcement by President Richard Nixon of the U.S. invasion of neutral Cambodia. Some construction workers carried U.S. flags and chanted, "USA, All the way" and "America, love it or leave it." Anti-war protesters shouted, “Peace now."The riot, first breaking out near the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street in Lower Manhattan, led to a mob scene with more than 20,000 people in the streets, eventually leading to a siege of New York City Hall, an attack on the conservative Pace University and lasted more than three hours. Around 100 people, including seven policemen, were injured on what became known as Bloody Friday. Six people were arrested, but only one of them was a construction worker associated with the rioters. Nixon invited the hardhat leaders to Washington, D.C., and accepted a hardhat from them.

Wall Street and Broad Street Intersection

As one of the two founding fathers to still survive 47 years later, President James Monroe sent an invitation to General Lafayette to return to America.&nbsp;“A public ship shall be immediately ordered to the port which you may designate, to carry you to the country of your adoption in early life, and which has always cherished the most grateful recollection of your important services.”

He made his first appearance on the steamboat Chancellor Livingston, which sailed at the center of a celebratory fleet set to dock at Castle Garden, where thousands were waiting to greet him. Castle Garden had been lavishly decorated for the occasion with carpeted stairs and “an arch richly decorated with flags and wreaths of laurel”.&nbsp;

A declaration that the Special Committee would be appointed to receive General (Marquis) Lafayette on his arrival from France

Lafayette landed on Staten Island and stayed at Daniel Tompkin's house for the first night

Daniel Tompkins House

Departed from

He arrived at Castle Clinton and the parade went up to City Hall

The former synagogue, designated a National Historic Landmark was restored by Architect Deborah Gans with is a stained glass window by artist Kiki Smith&nbsp;

Herman Melville was born in a rooming house at 6 Pearl Street in 1819, the third of eight children. It still stood in 1858, the 2nd house from the right.A. Weingartner’s Lithography

 After protests for 5 years, Radio Row was finally torn down in 1966 to make room for the World Trade Center. 

Sapokanikan, also known as Sappokanican or Saponickan, as explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano observed, was a Lenape settlement near present-day Gansevoort Street and Washington Street in Manhattan, by the Hudson River. The area, meaning "tobacco field" in the Lenape language, was home to the Canarsee people.&nbsp;

In the early 1630s, Sapohanikan, a Lenape settlement, became increasingly encroached upon by Dutch settlers, leading to its displacement by New Netherland Governor Wouter van Twiller. In 1633, he established the "Bossen Bouwerie," a large tobacco plantation for the Dutch West India Company, seizing land through intermittent violence. Van Twiller expanded the plantation to 300 acres, benefiting personally from the profits. The region was renamed Noortwyck and later Greenwijk under Dutch rule, eventually becoming known as Greenwich Village by the late 1600s under British influence. Sapokanikan's name faded as Greenwich grew. The settlement's name persisted in records throughout the early years of New Netherland until British rule.

The large Dutch farms were located east of Bowery [the dashed line from point 4 to 16] in what would now be the East Village and Lower East Side. The “Great Bouwery” is number 1 on the map just above #16 (the Brewery). The key says “No1 Comp Bouwery met Een Traffelleyck Huys” [Company’s Bouwery with an excellent house]. Eventually this would become Stuyvesant’s farm. The farms given to freed Blacks in 1644 likely stretched from numbers 9 to 10 on this map. Jan Pietersen’s Plantation (#9) was just above Spring Street near Minetta Creek. It is possible Emmanuel had worked this land and was given the northern portion. Manatus Map [detail]

Seneca Village was a significant 19th-century settlement of mostly African American landowners in Manhattan, located within what is now Central Park.A white farmer named John Whitehead, who purchased his property in 1824. One year later, he began selling off smaller lots from his property. It grew into a thriving community with around 225 residents, including Black Americans, Irish, and German immigrants. The village had homes, three churches, two schools, and three cemeteries. It was a place of early Black landownership and community life before being demolished in the 1850s to make way for the creation of Central Park. Its history is a poignant reminder of early urban displacement.

The community was destroyed to make way for Central Park under eminent domain. Over 200 residents, including landowners, were displaced.

Today, signs and exhibits in Central Park commemorate the settlement's history and its importance.

Despite being largely forgotten, its legacy was revived through Roy Rosenzweig and Elizabeth Blackmar's 1992 book The Park and the People, leading to archaeological excavations and the formation of the Seneca Village Project.&nbsp;

This photograph gives us a sense of what buildings in Seneca Village may have looked like

Detail of Egbert Viele, Map of the lands included in the Central Park

George Hayward lithographer&nbsp;&nbsp;

New York City emerged from the three waves of the influenza pandemic (September 1918 to February 1919) officially recording approximately 30,000 deaths out of a population of roughly 5.6 million due to influenza or pneumonia, 21,000 of them during the second fall wave (September 14 to November 16)

In the middle of September, the Board of Health began making changes to the Sanitary Code. On September 17, it made influenza and pneumonia reportable for the first time in New York City's history and on October 4 officially resolved that an epidemic existed.

Photographer: Bob Leavitt for American Magazine.

Borough President Manhattan – Civil Works Administration

Photographer: Eugene de Salignac. Department of Bridges, Plant &amp; Structures

New York City's seal was modified following the efforts of City Council President Paul O'Dwyer, who sought to highlight the city's Dutch origins by changing the founding year on the seal and flag from 1664 to 1625. Though 1625 marks New Amsterdam becoming the seat of government for New Netherland, it isn't the actual year the city was established. Mayor Abraham Beame signed the bill, despite historical objections. The seal has since faced occasional scrutiny, including during the 2020 George Floyd protests.

In 1683, New York City's Common Council petitioned for an official charter, granted in 1686. The charter gave the city the right to design its own seal, leading to the adoption of a seal featuring windmill sails, beavers, flour barrels, a sailor, a Native American, and a founding date. The crest initially included a ducal crown, although historians are uncertain why it wasn't changed to an imperial crown after James II ascended to the throne. The Native American figure depicted inaccurately wore a war bonnet, not typical of local Algonquian peoples.In 1735, a dispute between the Common Council and Mayor Paul Richard led to the creation of a new seal for the mayor, in addition to the existing city seals. This "mayoral seal" was circular, unlike the oval city seal, and bore the inscription "City of New York Seal of Mayoralty." A law was passed to determine the specific uses for each seal, with the 1686 seal and the "small seal" remaining as official city seals, while the new one was reserved for the mayor's office.

At the end of the American Revolutionary War in 1783, New York City had three official seals. The British crown was removed from these seals, and in 1784, the city adopted a new seal, featuring an eagle crest from the state seal of New York. Changes included a misrepresentation of the Native American’s bow and the removal of the sailor's cross-staff. The new seal design stayed in effect throughout the 19th century, while the Mayor’s Court seal fell out of use by 1821 after the court transitioned into the Court of Common Pleas.

Between 1784 and 1915, the New York City seal underwent many unofficial changes, often due to artistic license or errors. Elements such as the sailor, Native American, and eagle were often depicted incorrectly or with additional objects. As the city's 250th anniversary approached, a committee, along with the New-York Historical Society, studied the seal's history. In 1915, they developed a revised seal based on early designs. The new seal was approved by the Board of Aldermen, incorporating historical accuracy and adopting the eagle crest from the 1784 version.

From its founding until 1654, New Amsterdam did not have its own seal and used the seal of New Netherland. After its incorporation in 1653, New Amsterdam requested a seal from the Dutch West India Company. Although an earlier proposal with beavers as supporters was rejected, the final design chosen by the company featured their insignia, a single beaver, and a modified version of Amsterdam's arms. Historians speculate the shield had red and black elements with a mantle likely in the Dutch tricolor of orange, white, and blue.Although New Amsterdam was surrendered to the British in 1664 and renamed New York, the city's seal continued to be used until 1669. That year, the Duke of York issued new seals for both the city and the province. However, no descriptions or depictions of the 1669 city seal have been discovered, leaving its design a mystery.

Provincial seal of New Netherland, used by New Amsterdam until 1654

Latin text in the lower scroll: "Sigillum Amstello: Damensis in Novo Belgio" (translation: "Seal of Amsterdam in New Netherland.") The seal combines the arms of Old Amsterdam with a beaver for a crest. The initials above, C.W.C., stand for “Chartered West India Company.” The Seal was presented to General Peter Stuyvesant in 1654. Stokes, I.N. Phelps. (1915). The Iconography of Manhattan Island (vol. 1, cover). New York: Robert H. Dodd.

Principal Office

Born in a house on or near in 1819

The New York City Municipal Archives is a division of the New York City Department of Records and Information Services, located in the Surrogate's Courthouse in Manhattan. The Municipal Archives preserves and makes accessible records created by the government of New York City.

New York City Municipal Archives

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1st motorized ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan ALBUM

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A Charter for New Amsterdam ALBUM

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Coffee House Slip ALBUM

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Dr Martin Luther King Receives New York City's Medallion of Honor ALBUM

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Former J&R ALBUM

New York City Municipal Archives

IMAGE ALBUMS

11st motorized ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan ALBUM

2A Charter for New Amsterdam ALBUM

3Coffee House Slip ALBUM

4Dr Martin Luther King Receives New York City's Medallion of Honor ALBUM

5Former J&R ALBUM

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1st motorized ferry service between Staten Island and Manhattan ALBUM

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A Charter for New Amsterdam ALBUM

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Coffee House Slip ALBUM

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Dr Martin Luther King Receives New York City's Medallion of Honor ALBUM

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Former J&R ALBUM