Three hundred and seventy years ago this week, a group of 23 Sephardic Jews arrived on the shores of New York — then called New Amsterdam — and created the first organized Jewish community in the city.
What a difference a few centuries make: Today, New York City is home to the largest Jewish population outside of Israel.
On Thursday, the City Council will vote on a resolution to honor both, turning Landing Day from an event marked by a few Jewish leaders into an official date on the city’s calendar. The resolution says it aims to “commemorate the arrival of the first Jewish community in New Amsterdam in 1654 and to celebrate the continuing importance of the Jewish community in the City of New York.”
Landing Day has been commemorated in the city several times throughout history, most recently last year at a ceremony to recognize the 369th anniversary of the community.
That event was held at the Jewish Tercentenary Monument at Peter Minuit Plaza in Battery Park, erected by the State of New York in 1954. The small memorial includes a flagpole adorned with a plaque that explains its purpose is “to honor the memory of the twenty three men, women and children who landed in September 1654 and founded the first Jewish community in North America.”
