Looking for Dutch NYC 400 years after Hudson

New York City is constantly being rebuilt, paved over and reinvented, so it's not easy to find remnants of the colony of New Amsterdam 400 years after Henry Hudson sailed up the river that bears his name.

But whether you're sitting on a stoop in Brooklyn, strolling through Harlem or wandering along the Bowery, you are connecting with the city's Dutch roots. There are place names, statues, and even a 17th century Dutch farmhouse in Brooklyn, all serving as proof of this early chapter in New York history.

"New York City being what it is, it builds on top of everything," said Russell Shorto, author of "The Island at the Center of the World: The …