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
Poestenkill, New York Poestenkill, New York Poestenkill is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 4,530 at the 2010 census. The town is named after the Poesten Kill, an important stream in the area. The words "poesten kil" (with only one "l") are traditionally supposed to signify "foaming water" or "foaming creek" in Dutch. While "kil" indeed means "water" or "creek" in Dutch, Dutch dictionaries do not support the claim of "poest" as "foam". It seems more likely that the creek was named after the nickname "Poest" for the 17th-century local farmer and miller Jan Barentsen Wemp, who