How can one imagine that New York was once a city with a beaver on its seal? Anyone living in the 21st century has to put-up a very different mindset to try to understand what was happening on the island in 1600’s. What is most interesting about the settlement period is the relationship to the land. Dutch were fighting with natives for the space both sides considered theirs. It could be compared with the gang fights nowadays; where groups fight for a space they could as easily share. Natives certainly thought that land is everyone’s possession before Dutch bureaucrats came to convince them otherwise. This brings the more general question of ownership. Who owns Manahatta? Henry Hudson (and so the Dutch) who “discovered” the land or the natives who inhabited it since centuries? Or maybe the Duke of York, who received it for his birthday? One has to make the step to declare ownership in order to raise the question of what’s whose. The natives saw no reason to make the island “officially” theirs. They might have thought that there will always be a path of land for their villages; but how history has showed; there is never enough space for power. Moreover, the King had the last say on how to govern that land so what was happening in Manhattan depended more on remote decisions than on local ones. For example, the decision to transfer Manhattan from Dutch authority to English authority reached the inhabitants months after it was made. The first New Yorkers were dependent on politics that they didn’t relate to.
It is not so surprising to find out that NY had great coffee-houses and taverns. Any place that is inhabited by a diversity of nations and cultures produces great places to meet. Today’s NY is the same on this aspect. Many people from many cultures come and meet during the night in the greatest clubs, bars and restaurants that NY has to offer. Another similarity from then to now is that any “new comer” willing to work is welcomed to move here [at least before the economic meltdown] as long as he respects the others.