Brooklyn's Coney Island amusement park and boardwalk, a popular summer spot for New Yorkers since the early 1900s, takes its name from the Dutch Conyne Eylandt, meaning Rabbit Island. However, the getaway is no longer a true island—in the 1880s, developers filled in the creek that separated it from the rest of Brooklyn.

The Dutch attempted to recapture New York City from the British in 1673. They were briefly successful, and renamed the city New Orange (for the House of Orange-Nassau, a political dynasty in the Netherlands) until they were forced to return the city after being defeated in the third Anglo-Dutch War less than a year later.

Henry Hudson was the first known European to set foot in what is now New York City, but he was not the first to sail through its waters. Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer sailing on behalf of France, sailed through what is now New York Harbor in 1524 before docking in what-is-now the U.S. state of North Carolina. Verrazzano Narrows Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island, is named for him.

The Lenpe tribe was part of a larger group of Native Americans that spoke variations of the Algonquin language. In the Lenpes Unami dialect, Lenpe means human beings or real people. Tammany Hall, once a highly influential political organization based in New York City, takes its name from Lenpe Chief Tamanend.

The Walloons were settlers from the Wallonia region of southern Belgium. They came to New Amsterdam with the permission of the Dutch government. Wallabout Bay, the current site of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, comes from the Dutch Waalen Boogt, meaning Walloons Curve.

In 1635, the Dutch built a wall across lower Manhattan Island to protect their young settlement from English and Native American attacks. Local merchants gathered on street corners to buy and sell stocks and bonds, and the area quickly grew into a hub of financial activity. Though the walls have since fallen, the name Wall Street endures to this day.