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From Old to New Amsterdam: New York Turns 400

If it ain't Dutch, it ain't much: New York City celebrates the 400th anniversary of its founding this year with Dutch cultural exhibits under the NYC 400 banner and a special present from the folks who dubbed it New Amsterdam.

Henry Hudson first landed on the island that would later be known as Manhattan in 1609, and museums like the Met and the Frick are getting in on the act with exhibits of Rembrandts, Vermeers, van Goghs and others. At the Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Avenue), Amsterdam/New Amsterdam: The Worlds of Henry Hudson, opening April 4, will explore Hudson's trip with artifacts like the maps and sextants that steered him there. The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx will show off the tulips and other native plants of the Netherlands with "The Glory of Dutch Bulbs," opening April 1st.

In honor of New York's founding, Amsterdam is sending a stone plaza that will be installed in the Battery with a snack bar and LED-embedded sculpture. We'll withhold judgment on the New Amsterdam Plein & Pavilion until we see an actual photo -- it's not really the Dutch government's fault someone already sent Lower Manhattan something cool.

Related Stories:
· Official list of all NYC 400 events so far [NYC Go]
· Ben van Berkel's New Manhattan Project: Battery Goes Dutch [Curbed]
· Dutch to Help New York Celebrate Hudson’s Journey [New York Times]

[Artist's rendering of the Plein & Pavilion: dezeen.com]