Was NYC built on a swamp?
Was NYC built on a swamp? Parts of what became the five boroughs were swampy — for example, the land on which La Guardia airport was built was a marsh that extended from Jackson Heights to Flushing. Parts of the Southern rim of Brooklyn are still swampy. But most of the city — and virtually all of Manhattan — was not.
What was New York originally called?
The settlement was named New Amsterdam (Dutch: Nieuw Amsterdam) in 1626 and was chartered as a city in 1653. The city came under British control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles II granted the lands to his brother, the Duke of York.