Sometimes, things just happen by accident, according to Gerard Jongerius, Executive Director of the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation.  Susan Tracy, an expat New Yorker, spoke with Mr Jongerius about the genesis of his current endeavour, born from a passion for cartography.

Imagine this scenario:  you are a sailor, and also a collector of maps.  A few years ago, you were browsing in an old, dusty bookshop filled with long-forgotten and neglected tomes.  By chance or serendipity, you stumbled upon a booklet, the diary of the Dutch consul in London from the beginning of the 17th century, and found this journal entry: 1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Manahata.

This journal discovery leads to the idea of organising a sailing race from Amsterdam to New York in the year 2009 – a non-commercial enterprise requiring the creation of a foundation.  This idea gains momentum and shape by conversations with friends who become interested, with one friend going to live in New York.  After a period of time, this friend decides to return to the Netherlands, and another friend recommends that he read a book entitled, New Amsterdam –The Island at the Center of the World, written by Russell Shorto, an American writer and journalist.  He is reading Shorto’s book on the plane ride home and is mesmerised by it, because Shorto researches and writes about the very early period of New York, prior to Peter Stuyvesant’s time there in the 1660s.  In 1609, Manahata, now Manhattan, was only occupied by the Native American tribe of the same name.  Later, the best deal ever made was the Dutch purchase of Manahata for the princely sum of 60 guilders.

 Street signs New York City: One of the many reminders of New York's Dutch roots

Shorto asserts that the DNA of New York is very much influenced by the DNA of Amsterdam (a vibrant city; tolerance; diversity; a spirit of trade), and that Dutch settlers brought to Manhattan these same virtues.  He made a comparison with other American cities such as Baltimore and Philadelphia, both very British in their character.  But New York is different, and there are a lot of similarities between Amsterdam and New York.  Geert Mak, a Dutch journalist and historian, wrote a book on the history of Amsterdam, and was also thrilled by Russell Shorto’s book, because in his mind he totally ‘forgot’ about that period and ‘missed a chapter’ in his telling of Amsterdam’s history.

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