Who is Abraham de Peyster and why does he get moved around so much?
Abraham who?
Abraham de Peyster was mayor of New York in 1691 after a turbulent period in our history. Although of Dutch birth, de Peyster was a successful politician, loyal to the British Crown and in 1701 became acting governor of the colony. He donated a part of his estate to the new City Hall on Wall Street. Like many residents of Nieuw Amsterdam, the former mayor made a successful transition from Dutch to English rule. His statue, however, has been moving around lower Manhattan almost since the moment it was erected in the 1890s.
There are several things I love about this statue. The first is that de Peyster looks like a Dutchman from the 17th century. The second is that a direct descendant erected the statue to honor him. I love that! We tend to forget the Dutch were ever here but their descendants still walk among us. The third is that like all New Yorkers, the statue has moved multiple times.
When I first began giving tours, the statue was in Hanover Square in an area that de Peyster would have been very familiar with.
After September 11, 2001 the statue was moved when Hanover Square was chosen for the memorial garden to the British victims of that dreadful day. I thought the statue would have fit in the memorial well as he became a British subject and would have sat surrounded by beautiful Dutch tulips. But, the city thought otherwise and put the statue once again into storage on Randall’s Island. In 1973, the statue was moved from its original location in Bowling Green and sent to storage until it landed in Hanover Square in 1977.
After it was removed from Hanover Square there were several locations that were considered for this Moving Dutchman. But a variety of park and community organizations objected due to an abundance of statuary already in their parks or this 19th century statue did not fit the aesthetic of their park. For the moment, Mayor de Peyster sits in judgment at Foley Square. Not only did his descendant pay for the statue but reminds New Yorkers on the pedestal that the family still lived in the area in the 1890s.
Look at those boots!
Bowery & Canal 