Early New York City
Taught by Peter Laskowich
Peter Laskowich indulges in his passion for New York by giving tours, lectures and classes of its history.
Among the organizations that have sponsored his presentations are the Municipal Art Society, Cooper Union and the American Museum of Natural History. His commentary has been featured on radio and on television, and his course “Understanding New York City” proved especially popular at NYU’s Osher Center.
Mr. Laskowich is now writing a book on New York history - specifically the connections between the history of New York and that of baseball. He is a former nonprofit director and a nonpracticing member of the California bar.
What was New York when the Europeans got here? Who came? What was here and what did they do with it?
Manhattan became a base of operations because of a combination of features found nowhere else: a vast harbor, an ice-free port, hills and valleys offering both protection from enemies and access into the interior…. In the 1660s a man wrote home, “It is as though God intends the trade of the world to locate here,” and in the 1780s, when New York was home to a mere 25,000, George Washington said it was destined to become the great city of the world.
Remnants of these hills, streams and forests suggest the influence of pristine Manhattan on the city, the nation and the world.
The founding Dutch left the area 350 years ago but their imprint remains an active influence in and around downtown, their world-view an indelible part of New York City. Dutch use of resources that made New York’s rise a certainty affects and even determines our actions to this day.
