On Demand Tour VI - Dutch Roots and More - The Unique Upper Manhattan and Bronx Bike Tour

In 1609 Henry Hudson, an English explorer, was hired by the Dutch East Indies Company. In trying to find a new water route to the riches of China he became the first European to sail up the majestic river that now bears his name. His reports of the bounty of the land led to the Dutch creation in 1624 of New Amsterdam and New Netherlands. In 1664 the British took it all without a fight, although its Dutch inhabitants continued to live on the land and influence its history. On this unique tour, we will see the legacy of Peter Minuit, Jonas Bronck, Jan Dyckman, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, and Vredrych Flypsen. And much much more, as we safely and leisurely ride though neighborhoods and “sights the typical tourist seldom sees.”

We begin in Washington Heights, where the sounds, sights, and smells tell us we could be in the Dominican Republic. As we cross the Harlem River, we enter land where Jonas Bronck, moving from Amsterdam in 1639, became the first European settler. As we ride across the south Bronx, we will stop at the very place where President Carter stopped, given the impetus to the rebuilding of whole neighorhoods as you will see for yourself. At the falls of the Bronx River you will simply not believe you are still in the Bronx! And just this year, for the first time in nearly 200 years, a beaver, was discovered here again! It was the abundance of this animal, with its lush fur much prized by the Dutch, that was a key motivation in the founding of New Amsterdam.

The Bronx you expect!

In the Belmont neighborhood, we will stop at the be-bop corner to “sing along” with Dion and the Belmonts, street kids from the neighborhood. Their hit song, Why Must I Be a Teenager in Love, is still in the consciousness of many older Dutch citizens who grow up in Holland in the 50’s and ’60’s. In the magnificent indoor market of this non-tourist, Little Italy of the Bronx, with sausages hanging overhead in profusion, we will dine on incomparable pizza and other tasty, local delicacies and luscious pastries.

Passing through Bronxterdam, we’ll learn why its current residents chose to nickname it after Amsterdam! In Van Cortlandt park still stands Frederick Van Cortlandt’s 1748 Georgian manor house with keystone’s still revealing its builder’s pride in his Dutch Heritage. Its exterior and interior reflect the sizeable wealth of the family, amassed in part from the slave trade and sustained with the help of generations of slaves!

The Bronx you don't expect!

We cross the Harlem River at Supyten Duyvil, a probably corruption of spuit den duyvil. We’ll pass by the only remaining Dutch colonial farmhouse in Manhattan, the Dyckman House, with it typical Dutch gambrel roof. In Inwood Park, we pedal through the last remaining natural forest in Manhattan Island. Here is the reputed site where Peter Minuit, the Dutch director General of the colony, “purchased” the whole island for $24 worth of wampum! Here also are marvelous views across the Hudson to the magnificent Palisades. Then a stop for authentic American carrot cake or sweet potato pie from a wildly successful bakery set up by an ex-heroin addict!

And finally, we pedal around the Cloisters, built with Rockefeller money to resemble a Romanesque Abby, and housing an extensive collection of Medieval art and architecture including marvelous Flemish tapestries.