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Part 3: Great explorers, Revolutionary generals, and-my forefathers?
By Ben Ellison — Spring 2006
FULL CIRCLE
And that's the real history to be seen along the Hudson. Shorto's main contention about New Amsterdam is that the Dutch established a live-and-let-live, melting-pot spirit that has energized New York City and beyond ever since. We saw evidence of that dynamism all along the river from the Battery to Newburgh-especially in Newburgh, which blossomed after the Revolution into a booming hub of manufacturing at a nexus of waterway and railways. Then, like many a Hudson town, it declined sharply as economic conditions changed and aggressive genes sought better opportunities elsewhere. Today it's begun to bloom again.
Jesse and I stumbled on the perfect spot for such ruminations. It was Newburgh's little Cafe Macchiato, just across the street from Washington's Headquarters, another interesting State Historic Site, and just around the corner from the city's blight. Not only was the food and feel the most memorable of the whole trip, but it turned out that the proprietors-he a Haitian, she an Italian-had each immigrated to New York City in their early 20s, met in that melting pot of young professionals, and moved upriver to raise their lovely daughter.
They are the new settlers, their restaurant a bright flower for a new Newburgh, and having some perspective on all that is what makes cruising with some history in hand so rewarding.
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