New York Harbor
BY LORRAINE BERTAN,
CULTURAL AFFAIRS
Twenty thousand years ago,
the Wisconsin Ice Sheet that
covered North America extended
into New York City, covering
Manhattan and the New York Bay
in ice as high as 2,000 feet. The sea
level was 350 feet lower. The glacier
was a moving river of ice, extending
through New Jersey, Connecticut
and northern Long Island.
About 18,000 years ago, the glacier
began retreating, and 12,000
ago, a huge rush of glacial water
inundated the Hudson River,
creating the deep Hudson River
Canyon. There is fossil evidence
of a Paleo-Indian hunting culture,
with mastodons and mammoths, on
Staten Island. The Hudson River
Canyon, the gift of the glacier,
formed the New York Harbor, one
of the three largest harbors in the
world. The Hudson River, which
began its life in the Adirondack
Mountains in New York State, is
350 miles long, and is a significant
part of the mercantile history of
New York. The Hudson River flows
into the Atlantic Ocean, and in its
lower part is a tidal estuary, deeper
than the water in which it flows.
In 1609, an English sailor, Henry
Hudson, working for the Dutch
East India Company and looking
for the Northwest route to India,
sailed into the mouth of the Hudson
River on his ship, The “Half Moon.”
He sailed as far north as Albany,
the water being too shallow for his
ship. He was met by local Native
Americans--Mohawk, Lenape
and Mohican--who were friendly.
Hudson returned to Europe, claiming
the entire Hudson Valley for the
Dutch. The Dutch returned in 1614
to establish Albany as a trading post
and in 1624 returned to New York,
establishing it as a trading post with
the Native Americans.
At this time, the Netherlands had
become Europe’s leading economic
power and this was the “Golden
Age” of Dutch commerce and rule.
The Dutch West India Company
was formed in 1621 to handle trade
and security of its colonies in West
Africa, Brazil, the Caribbean and
New York, all trading posts. The
Dutch West India Company had a
military purpose, to protect the ports
from foreign ships, and to secure
the trading capability of the Dutch.
Fort Amsterdam was established on
the southern tip of Manhattan in
1625, and the area grew to become
New Amsterdam, the capitol of the
New Netherland, the American
extension of the Dutch Republic.
The profits of trading were so
tempting that English ships invaded
New Amsterdam in 1664 and
renamed it New
York City, and
New Netherland
became New York
State.
The economy
of New York after
1664 was ship building,
fur trading, farming
and slave trading. It was a
wealthy city with a thriving port.
The period between 1664 and the
American Revolution was known
as the Colonial Period. The population
of New York City was about
60% English and 30% Dutch, with
a mix of ethnic groups. It was a
cosmopolitan city, with ethnically
diverse marriages and religious
tolerance. The trial of John Peter
Zenger for libel established freedom
of the press, which extended
to all British colonies. Jews who
were expelled from Recife in Brazil
entered New York during the time
of Peter Stuyvesant, and the first
synagogue founded in New York
City was Shearith, Israel, in 1706.
The colonial period ended with the
Revolutionary War, and the battle
for New York took five
long years to win.
New York City’s
economic growth
increased exponentially
after the
Revolution and one
third of money collected
by the federal
government came
from New York
City. In the early
1900s, the Hudson
and East Rivers were
extremely busy, and
competition between
New York and New
Jersey became fierce.
The two states fought over
the rights to the Hudson
River. In 1921 the Port of New
York Authority was created and it
has the mandate to develop and
modernize the entire port district.
What type of wildlife lives in New
York Harbor? Humpback whales,
oysters, seals, sea turtles, sharks,
sturgeon, eels, seaweed and sea
grass, and, of course, water birds.
Occasionally there are tropical
visitors via the Gulf Stream. There
are shipwrecks and sunken treasure
and sunken cars that have become
artificial reefs harboring crabs and
lobsters. The New York Harbor is
an interesting place!
Manhattan, 1690
New York Harbor Henry Hudson’s ship, the Half Moon
April 2021 ¢ NORTH SHORE TOWERS COURIER 27