The Department of Records and Information Services has published early documents from ol’ New Amsterdam on its website. It’s the first move in the department’s push to publish the municipal archives from NYC’s history on the internet.
According to DNAinfo:
Several ordinances were written by Peter Stuyvesant who was appointed Director-General of the New Netherland colonial province, which once encompassed New York City, in 1647.
The man who put the “Stuy” in Bed-Stuy was concerned about all the boozin’ going on around the colony, and one of his first edicts was to ban the sale of alcohol on Sunday before 2 PM and everyday after 8 PM. Much like the land of Bushwick today, Stuyvesant noticed that “one full fourth of the City of New Amsterdam has been turned into taverns.” He tried to encourage bar owners to start “some other honest business.”
Lest ye forget that NYC was dirty before “the good ol’ days” of gritty New York, the city municipality of New Amsterdam also had to pass an ordinance prohibiting pigs and goats from climbing on the Fort Amsterdam walls.
You can see the what’s been posted so far here, or go analog and walk on down to the visitor center at 31 Chamber Street to check out the larger archive in person.
(Photo: Wikipedia)
