Newcomers: The Story of Anthony and Grietje and the Founding of New York

It’s been said that if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere. In the 1630s, a poor immigrant couple named Anthony and Grietje arrived in Dutch New Amsterdam in search of a better life and ended up changing the course of New York’s history. After being banished to the wilds of Brooklyn by Dutch authorities following a series of brawls and court appearances, Anthony returned to Manhattan following Grietje’s death and became not only one of the richest men in 17-century New York, but the patriarch of a family that included American figures stretching from the Vanderbilts to President Warren G. Harding. Author Alan Mikhail joins historian Russell Shorto to explore the exceptional story of one of New York’s most unorthodox founding families.

Alan Mikhail is the Chace Family Professor of History at Yale University and the author of multiple books, including Newcomers. Russell Shorto (moderator) is a bestselling author, the curator of The New York Historical’s exhibition Old Masters, New Amsterdam, and director of the New Amsterdam Project at The Historical.