New York City York metropolitan area produced a gross metropolitan product (GMP) of US$1.73 trillion. If greater New York City were a sovereign state, it would have the 12th highest GDP in the world. New York City traces its origins to a trading post founded by colonists from the Dutch Republic in 1624 on Lower Manhattan; the post was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed "New York" after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York. New York served as the capital of
Bridewell (New York City jail) Bridewell (New York City jail) The Bridewell was a municipal prison in New York City built in 1768 on the site now occupied by City Hall Park in Civic Center, Manhattan. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Bridewell is a common English noun referred both to a gaol in which prisoners were held, or a workhouse to which they were confined. The term was used for a number of jails in the Thirteen Colonies. Construction on the New York City Bridewell began in 1768, although the building was not completed until after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Even