History of New York City (1665–1783) port British ships evacuated in 1783. The English had renamed the colony the Province of New York, after the king's brother James, Duke of York and on June 12, 1665, appointed Thomas Willett the first of the Mayors of New York. The city grew northward and remained the largest and most important city in the Province of New York, becoming the third largest in the British Empire after London and Philadelphia. The Dutch regained the colony briefly in 1673, then finally lost it permanently to the English in 1674 after the Third Anglo-Dutch War. Leisler's Rebellion, an uprising in which
Vincent Thomas (mayor) elected Thomas as the new mayor in 1976 by a 4-3 margin on the 27th ballot. He was re-elected as mayor by the city council for three additional term, each unopposed from 1976 to 1984. Thomas supported the construction of the Waterside development, as well as the downtown revitalization efforts. Mayor Vincent Thomas held a meeting with the Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1983 to discuss Norfolk's controversial school busing plan. The busing program was discontinued in 1986. Thomas actively supported the candidacy's of Norfolk's second African-American city council member. He declined to seek re-election in 1984. Shortly after his decision