Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende visited New York City this week, as part of NY400, the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Henry Hudson onboard the Dutch ship the Half Moon to the shores of what is now New York City.
Together with Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagen, Dutch Ambassador to the U.S. Renée Jones-Bos and Consul General of the Netherlands in New York Hugo Gajus Scheltema, the Prime Minister paid a special tribute to Brooklyn and all Brooklynnites, thereby strengthening the borough’s historical and future ties with the Netherlands. They were welcomed by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.
Markowitz & NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe hosted a tour at the Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum, the oldest building in the City of New York, built in 1652. During their visit the Prime Minister met with Wyckoff decendants and children of the New Amstersfoort School in Brooklyn who participated in the NY400 celebrations earlier this year.
During Prime Minister Balkenende’s visit to Brooklyn, plans were unveiled announcing the construction of the Wyckoff-Durling Barn, which will relocate and reconstruct the timber frame of a 19th-century Dutch-style barn that was originally located in Somerset, NJ. This $4.95 million project will be the first barn-raising in Brooklyn in over 150 years. The barn will house the museum’s administrative offices, a caretaker’s apartment, greenhouse and additional exhibit space.
The Dutch officials met Church Minister Dan Ramm and members of the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church community and discussed the Church’s Dutch cultural heritage and social issues in the region such as healthcare problems. The church has a special program to help the homeless and less fortunate residents in the Flatbush area.
At the end of the day, Prime Minister Balkenende and Foreign Affairs Minister Verhagen officially closed the New Island Festival on Governors Island.
On Monday September 21st, the Prime Minister visited the site of the New Amsterdam Pavilion, which was unveiled during NY400 Week by NYC Mayor Bloomberg and the Prince of Orange and Princess Maxima of the Netherlands. Designed by Dutch architect Ben van Berkel, the pavilion is a special gift from the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the City of New York, and marks 400 years of Dutch-American friendship. The structure is located at Peter Minuit Plaza at The Battery.
After the trip to the Pavilion, Prime Minister Balkenende received a tour of The Battery Gardens by Warrie Price, President of The Battery Conservancy. Located at the tip of Manhattan overlooking New York Harbor, The Battery hosted Dutch settlers when they arrived at Manhattan Island in 1626 and established New Amsterdam.
In the afternoon, the Dutch officials received a tour of the High Line by Joshua David, Co-Founder en Chief Development Officer. The High Line features a signature landscape designed by planting designer Piet Oudolf.
Finally, the Dutch Prime-Minister received a tour of the NY400 exhibition ‘Dutch New York between East and West: the World of Margrieta van Varick’ at the Bard Graduate Center. Born in the Netherlands, Margrieta van Varick spent the better part of her life at the extremes of the Dutch colonial world: in Malacca (now Malaysia) and Flatbush (now Brooklyn.) Arriving in Flatbush with her minister husband Rudolphus in 1686, she set up a textile shop, having brought with her an astonishing array of Eastern and European goods. The groundbreaking research conducted for this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue makes an original contribution to the histories of New York City, Dutch overseas colonial and commercial networks, the life of women in the Dutch overseas colonies, and the material culture of New York under Dutch and English rule.
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