Rebecca Romijn (born 1972) is a Dutch American actress and former model best known for portraying Mystique in the X-Men films and for television roles such as Alexis Meade in Ugly Betty. Her career began in fashion modeling before moving into film and television.
Wall Street takes its name from the wooden wall the Dutch erected in the 1650s to protect New Amsterdam from potential British or Native attacks. The wall stood near today's Wall Street.
Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema (1917–2007) was a Dutch resistance hero, RAF pilot, and writer best known for his wartime exploits during World War II and for his bestselling memoir The Soldier of Orange, later adapted into an acclaimed film.
New Amsterdam, the Dutch capital on Manhattan’s southern tip, had just fifteen streets and under 1,000 residents. Yet its multicultural makeup—18 languages, many ethnicities—laid the foundation for New York City’s diversity.
Stephen Van Rensselaer IV (1789–1868) was the ninth and final patroon of the vast Rensselaerswyck estate in New York. Educated at Princeton, he ended the centuries-old patroonship by selling the estate’s farms to tenant farmers during the Anti-Rent movement of 1839.
Robert Van Rensselaer (1740–1802) was a Revolutionary War militia officer and New York political leader. Serving as a brigadier general in the Albany County Militia, he participated in campaigns around Fort Ticonderoga and the Battle of Klock’s Field while also serving in the New York Provincial Congress and State Assembly.
During the Dutch period, the area north of New Amsterdam was called Noortwyck. In the 1670s, Yellis Mandeville renamed it Greenwich, likely an Anglicization of the Dutch "Greenwijck," meaning Pine District.
Solomon Van Vechten Van Rensselaer (1774–1852) was a New York military officer and politician who served in the War of 1812 and later represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1819 to 1822 before becoming Albany’s long-serving postmaster.
