who founded new york

New York City was founded by Dutch colonists in 1624. The original founder is widely accepted to be Peter Minuit, a Dutch explorer and merchant appointed as the first Director-General of the colony by the Dutch West India Company. He is famously known for facilitating the purchase of Manhattan Island from the local Native Americans for goods worth 60 guilders, roughly equivalent to $1,000 today. The city was originally called New Amsterdam. In 1664, the English seized control of the colony and renamed it New York after the Duke of York.