In 2025, New York City turns 400, give or take a year or two

New York City is officially celebrating its 400th birthday in 2025, marking the anniversary of Dutch settlers, in 1625, moving their castle to Indigenous Lenape land in lower Manhattan from what is today’s Governors Island.

At least "1625” is what the city’s official seal says. 

Or should the birthday be dated to 1624, when a small number of Dutch landed to establish New Amsterdam, a company town for frontier fur trade? Or maybe 1626, when a Dutchman "bought" Manhattan island for the equivalent of $24?

"Whether this is 400 or 401 or 399 is trivia. In the American sense, it’s a big deal, because New York is not only the most important city in the United States ... Does anybody come to New York to see its historic buildings? I mean, they come here because it’s exciting, it’s the crossroads of the world!" said the historian Kenneth T. Jackson, emeritus professor at Columbia University and editor-in-chief of "The Encyclopedia of New York City."

On New Year’s Eve, Mayor Eric Adams launched "Founded By NYC," a yearlong celebration to mark, as a city press release says, "how New York City has made history, and continues to do so — highlighting the achievements driven by the creativity and resilience of the five boroughs and its people."

"For four centuries, history has happened here. And in 2025, through our ‘Founded By NYC’ campaign, we will celebrate all those who came here from around the world over those 400 years to build our great city — the New Yorkers whose vibrant culture, innovation, and abilities continue to make us the envy of the world today," Adams said in the release.

Adams, of course, himself made history last year — when he became the first sitting mayor in modern New York City history to be criminally charged while in office.

The rolling 400th birthday party planned to span 2025 doesn’t just cover what happened after the Dutch arrived but before, too: "We must also acknowledge the painful parts of its origin, and ensure we are celebrating the Lenape’s rich contributions to our city as much as anyone else’s," Adams said in the release.

Organizations helping celebrate the city’s history include all city agencies, the Broadway League, museums, the Times Square Alliance, business improvement districts and more.

Adams' plans have the anniversary theme incorporated into city events in film, art and music, with installations at Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence. There will be free film screenings, at city parks, of movies set in locations in the five boroughs, free New York Philharmonic concerts of music by city-based composers, and more. Event dates are forthcoming. The official website, sponsored by the city’s tourism arm, is nyctourism.com/things-to-do/history-in-nyc/.

"New York’s just got everything. And so you could say, why does it matter about its 400th? And, you know, I think it does," said Jackson, the historian.

Throw another landmark year into the birthday mix, 1898, when Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Queens were consolidated into one city. It also was the year of a divorce consequential to the birth of modern Long Island: Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay separated from Queens before forming a new county called Nassau.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.