Dutch heritage

Brief history of NYC [1]:
The Lenape were living in Lenapehoking which was pretty much undisturbed until in 1524 sightseer Giovanni da Verrazano (obvious Italian) casted his upon the land. His aim for the journey was the Orient, and not Staten Island, so he left without setting foot on land. It was 85 years later in 1609 when Henry Hudson (hence the Hudson river), bumped into the island of Manhattan with the same goal, finding a shortcut to the Far East. His tales about the 'rich and pleasant land' made that 110 settlers of the Dutch West India Company were sent to establish a trading post on the island Mannahata, naming the colony New Amsterdam. The many bloody battles didn't drive the Lenapes away, and in 1626 Peter Minuit (New Amsterdam's first governor) purchased the island for 60 guilders worth in goods [2](which is estimated today to have been worth about $500, ridiculous now if you think about the sky high monthly rents in Manhattan).
New Amsterdam became the port for fur trading, but didn't attract enough people to come and work. So instead servants, slaves, thieves, and prostitutes were sent (wow, that would have been a wonderful city to live in). Then in 1647 Peter Stuyvesant comes in view, he was not popular, however he was the first effective governor, establishing the first school, post office, hospital, poorhouse, and prison (so they could put all the thieves they sent earlier back into prison). They build the city in such way that it resembled Amsterdam, with canals, windmills and farmhouses. In 1664 the English sailed into the harbor, and to avoid bloodshed and destruction Peter Stuyvesant surrendered. Soon after, New Amsterdam was renamed New York.

Dutch heritage:
Although the Dutch only reigned for only 40 years, there are still many traces to find throughout the city. I like this very much, so I decided to do some research on Dutch street names. I mean, how much fun would it be to hear an American pronounce 'Schermerhorn Street' (named after a Dutch family in the shipping business [3]).
I will start with my home borough: Brooklyn. This is the anglicized form of Breuckelen, which was founded in 1646 [4]. Really, call me whatever you want, but I just found out a few weeks after I arrived here!
Here are some obvious Dutch traces: we have Harlem (yes, indeed after Haarlem) in the north of Manhattan, Stuyvesant Park (indeed, after the lovely Peter Stuyvesant) between E15 and E17, Little Utrecht in Brooklyn, the Holland Tunnel to New Jersey, Nassau Avenue, and Amsterdam Avenue west from Central Park.
There is this very famous street in Manhattan, which once was 'Heere Straat', obviously named by the Dutch settlers, but later renamed by the English into Broadway [4]. Another famous street, Wall Street, is named after a wall (could you have guessed this?) the Dutch build to keep invaders out [5]. Close to my house is Flatbush Avenue, which is derived from 'vlacke bos' originally the colony town Mitwout in 1651. Midwood is still an area in Brooklyn [6]. The Bowery is the road that let to Peter Stuyvesant's farm, or better, bouwerij [5]. And so there are many more streets in NYC named after some Dutch family (Gansevoort for example).
But my very favorite anglicized Dutch name is Coney Island. Coney (do you recognize some animal already?) is thought to be derived from 'konijn', after the multitude of rabbits on the island [4]! Conyne Eylandt [7]! Since I read this, I always see rabbits jumping around when reading the subway destination :)


References:
I'm not making things up, so check my references if you want to read more!
[1] Time Out Guide New York
[2] http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=shop&second=books&third=DoAllIndiansLiveInTipis
[3] http://www.myhomebrooklyn.com/2011/02/04/brooklyn-history-schermerhorn-street/
[4] http://brooklyn.com/streets.html
[5] http://www.inetours.com/New_York/Pages/NYC_Streets.html
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatbush,_Brooklyn
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Dutch_origin