History of New York City (prehistory–1664) with the ethnic and racial balance of the community. The economic activity brought in a wide variety of ethnic groups to the fledgling city during the 17th century, including Spanish, Jews, and Africans, some of them as slaves. The Dutch origins can still be seen in many names in New York City, such as Coney Island (from "Konijnen Eiland" – Dutch for "Rabbit Island"), Bowery from "bouwerij" (modern Dutch "boerderij" = "farm"), Brooklyn (from Breukelen), Harlem from Haarlem (formalized in 1658 as "Nieuw Haarlem"), Greenwich Village (from Greenwijck, meaning "pine wood quarter"), Flushing (from Vlissingen) and Staten Island (from "Staaten
York Shire (Province of New York) York Shire (Province of New York) The Shire of York (Yorkshire), was the first large governmental unit organized in the English Province of New York soon after English control of the area was established in 1664. On August 29, 1664, The Duke of York’s forces captured New Amsterdam from the Dutch, as part of their conquest of New Netherland. They renamed New Amsterdam as the Province of New York, which included modern New York, New Jersey, Vermont, southeast Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Yorkshire (which was not a county), was created soon afterward in 1664. Its jurisdiction included Long Island, Staten Island,