By Danielle Latman

American expat Danielle Latman takes the train to Breukelen, exploring the past, present and future of the two Brooklyns.

Present

The train ride from Amsterdam to Breukelen is a little different from the commute I used to take from Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan back home to Brooklyn. The train here passes through city streets to grassland dotted with grazing animals in less than half an hour.

I took the train in late June to attend Brooklyn Night, organised by the Breukelen gemeente (local government) to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Dutch settling in New York.

One to two hundred Breukelenites, mostly native Dutch, gathered in Boom en Bosch, a park by the Town Hall, to watch videos of Brooklyn and eat hot dogs.

Breukelen Burgemeester (Mayor) Ger Mik, wearing a traditional chain of office, led children in a lantern competition and later to a dazzling fireworks display.

It was a warm show of friendship and community, but I couldn’t help wondering… what is the point? Why should anyone outside of tiny Breukelen care?

My answer came from Carla Koopmans, general manager of the gemeente. “If you don’t know your historical roots, you lack something,” she said.

Past

So I visited the related exhibit, “Breukelen-Brooklyn 400″, at the Regionaal Historisch Centrum. The one-room display, all in Dutch, uses old maps, newspaper clippings, books, videos and old materials to tell the story of the two Brooklyns.

The Dutch settled in Breukelen, a small section of the current Brooklyn that is now located around Borough Hall, in 1646. They developed five other towns as well: Gravesend, Nieuw Amersfoort (now Flatlands), Midwout (now Flatbush), Nieuw Utrecht, and Boswijk (Bushwick).

After the British takeover of New Amsterdam in the 1660s, many Brooklyn streets and neighbourhoods retained their Dutch names. Even the Brooklyn motto remains Dutch: “Een Draght Maakt Maght”, translated to “In Unity there is Strength”.

Future

So why is the bridge to Brooklyn – both physical and historical — important here?

“It’s a brand that has emotional value,” said Bram Donkers, project manager of BrooklynBridgeBreukelen, a small grassroots organisation aimed to re-establish the connection between the two places.. “A lot of Americans started in Brooklyn. For a lot of Americans the Brooklyn brand stands for coming home.

“We’d like to remain on the world map as the original Brooklyn,” he said.

I got on the train back home thinking that new Brooklyn may be key to old Breukelen’s survival.

About the author
Danielle Latman is a writer and editor from Brooklyn, NY now living in Amsterdam, NL. She currently works at Expatica.com, and her articles can be found at http://claimid.com/danielle_latman

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By Hans Pieter Herman & Ira Siff

Only a few months ago we heard about the search for 5 same-sex couples to be married by the Mayor of Amsterdam during Gay Pride in Holland, as part of  I do. I amsterdam. We’re happy to say that we are one of the 5 couples that got selected! After receiving multiple congratulations from friends and family it left us with less than two months to arrange this wedding.

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The ceremonial part is all in the great care of the city of Amsterdam, run by a special “I do, I do” team. But invitations, flowers, photographer, dinner, honeymoon, suits, rings, almost everything still needed to be arranged in less than two months and since we’re both working away from home this summer, it was quite a challenge. Luckily, everything is more or less under control now. Friends and family are getting plane tickets and hotel rooms are being booked.

However, we still need to find shoes.

Shoes are always an important aspect of a major event but since the whole day will be spent on a boat with 200.000 people standing alongside the canals witnessing the ceremony and hearing the actual I do’s over the speakers, one does not want to slip and fall into the water.

We are overwhelmed by the daily response and positive reactions from everyone we encounter. Two people being celebrated by thousands and their union being honored by a government - tying the knot, like billions did before them, just because they can’t live without their love for one another. One would almost think that gay rights are no longer an issue in this world. Of course we know this is not the case and thus it feels great to be able to show everybody, including thousands of still oppressed people in the world, desperately fighting for their human rights, that things are changing.

 
About the authors
Hans Pieter Herman is a Dutch freelance opera and concert singer who lives in Amsterdam where he also teaches voice. Ira Siff is a New Yorker who directs opera, performs, teaches voice, writes about opera and is Weekly Commentator on the Metropolitan Opera Broadcast. Hans and Ira met in New York and fell in love in 2006. Beside their love for each other and each others cities they share a deep love for Italy where they will spend their honeymoon. Check back with NY400 in August to read all about their wedding during Amsterdam’s Gay Pride!

The New York Times’ article on I do. I amsterdam.