New York City

=== Early history ===
{{Main|History of New York City (prehistory–1664)}}
In the [[pre-Columbian era]], the area of present-day New York City was inhabited by [[Algonquian peoples|Algonquian]]s, including the [[Lenape]]. Their homeland, known as [[Lenapehoking]], included the present-day areas of [[Staten Island]], [[Manhattan]], [[the Bronx]], the western portion of [[Long Island]] (including [[Brooklyn]] and [[Queens]]), and the [[Lower Hudson Valley]].<ref>{{cite book |first = Evan T. |last = Pritchard |year = 2002 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=c5hky9f5PgoC&pg=PA27 |title = Native New Yorkers: The Legacy of the Algonquin people of New York |page = 27 |publisher = Council Oak Books |isbn = 1-57178-107-2 }}</ref>

The first documented visit into [[New York Harbor]] by a European was in 1524 by [[Giovanni da&nbsp;Verrazzano]], an explorer from [[Florence]] in the service of the [[Kingdom of France|French crown]].<ref name="Debo2013">{{cite book |first = Angie |last = Debo |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=pLjYpwiuN_wC&pg=PT28 |title = A History of the Indians of the United States |publisher = [[University of Oklahoma Press]] |year = 2013 |isbn = 978-0-8061-8965-9 |page = 28 }}</ref> He claimed the area for France and named it ''Nouvelle Angoulême'' (New [[Angoulême]]).<ref name="rodgers">{{cite book |last1 = Rankin |first1 = Rebecca B. |url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.226262 |title = New York: The World's Capital City, Its Development and Contributions to Progress |last2 = Rodgers |first2 = Cleveland |publisher = [[Harper (publisher)|Harper]] |year = 1948 }}</ref> A Spanish expedition, led by the Portuguese captain [[Estêvão Gomes]] sailing for [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Charles&nbsp;V]], arrived in New York Harbor in January 1525 and charted the mouth of the [[Hudson River]], which he named {{lang|es|Río de San Antonio}} ('Saint Anthony's River').<ref>{{cite book |author = WPA Writer's Project |title = A Maritime History of New York |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=o08K8jlMI-IC |page = 246 |publisher = Going Coastal Productions |year = 2004 |isbn = 0-9729803-1-8 }}</ref>

In 1609, the English explorer [[Henry Hudson]] rediscovered New York Harbor while searching for the [[Northwest Passage]] to the [[Orient]] for the [[Dutch East India Company]].<ref name="Lankevich2002">{{cite book |first = George J. |last = Lankevich |url = https://archive.org/details/newyorkcity00geor |title = New York City: A Short History |publisher = [[NYU Press]] |year = 2002 |isbn = 978-0-8147-5186-2 |page = [https://archive.org/details/newyorkcity00geor/page/2 2] |url-access = registration }}</ref> He proceeded to sail up what the Dutch called [[North River (Hudson River)|North River]] (now the Hudson River), named first by Hudson as the ''Mauritius'' after [[Maurice, Prince of Orange]]. Hudson's [[Chief mate|first mate]] described the harbor as "a very good Harbour for all windes" and the river as "a mile broad" and "full of fish."<ref name="hudsonnni">{{cite web |title = The Hudson River |url = http://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/digital-exhibitions/a-tour-of-new-netherland/hudson-river/ |access-date = July 10, 2016 |publisher = [[New Netherland Institute]] }}</ref>

Hudson claimed the region for the Dutch East India Company. In 1614, the area between [[Cape Cod]] and [[Delaware Bay]] was claimed by the Netherlands and called {{lang|nl|Nieuw-Nederland}} ('[[New Netherland]]'). The first non–Native American inhabitant of what became New York City was [[Juan (Jan) Rodriguez|Juan Rodriguez]], a merchant from [[Captaincy General of Santo Domingo|Santo Domingo]] who arrived in Manhattan during the winter of 1613–14, trapping for [[Fur|pelts]] and trading with the local population as a representative of the Dutch colonists.<ref>{{cite news |last = Roberts |first = Sam |date = October 2, 2012 |title = Honoring a Very Early New Yorker |newspaper = [[The New York Times]] |url = http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/honoring-a-very-early-new-yorker/ |access-date = October 28, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date = May 14, 2013 |title = CUNY DSI Publishes Monograph on New York's First Immigrant |url = https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/juan-rodriguez-monograph |access-date = May 16, 2020 |publisher = [[The City College of New York]] }}</ref>