New York

From New Amsterdam to New York

New York was Dutch before it was English. The colony of New Netherland, with its chief town of New Amsterdam, grew from the 1620s. In 1664 King Charles II of England granted the territory to his brother James, Duke of York, and that September an English squadron under Richard Nicolls forced Director-General Peter Stuyvesant to give up New Amsterdam. The colony and its town were renamed New York, after the duke’s title.

Revolution and a moving capital

The Revolution drove the new state government out of New York City, which the British army held, and it kept moving. In April 1777 a convention at Kingston adopted the first state constitution, and the first state Senate met there that September; on October 16, 1777, British troops burned the town. For the next two decades the legislature rotated among Poughkeepsie, Albany, Fishkill, Kingston and, after the war, New York City.

The 11th state

New York was closely divided over the federal Constitution. A ratifying convention at Poughkeepsie approved it on July 26, 1788, by a vote of 30 to 27, making New York the 11th state to ratify.

Albany

In late 1796 lawmakers left New York City’s Federal Hall planning to reconvene in Albany, and acts passed in 1797 made Albany the permanent capital. It was central, a growing hub of trade and transport, and safer than New York City, which was exposed to attack from the sea and to yellow fever. Albany’s granite Capitol took from 1867 to 1899 to build. The capital page tells the story.

The Empire State

The origin of New York’s nickname is uncertain. A frequently cited lead is George Washington’s description of New York as the “seat of the Empire” in 1784 or 1785, and the name was well established long before the Empire State Building borrowed it. It is not set in law. The motto, Excelsior, “Ever upward,” has been on the state arms since 1778, and in 2020 the state budget added a second line, E pluribus unum, “Out of many, one.” The arms, with Liberty and Justice on either side of a shield showing the sun rising behind mountains over a river, are on the blue state flag.

Bluebirds, roses and beavers

New York has 24 official state symbols. The eastern bluebird became the state bird in 1970, the rose the state flower in 1955 and the sugar maple the state tree in 1956. The American beaver, whose pelts drew the first fur traders to the Albany area, is the state animal. Food and farming are well represented, with the apple, the apple muffin, milk and yogurt. The state song, “I Love New York,” began as a 1977 tourism jingle, and the “I Love New York” slogan and heart logo by Milton Glaser became official in 2009. See every symbol on the New York symbols page.

Land and people

New York covers 54,555 square miles, 27th among the states, including more than 7,400 square miles of water. It had about 20 million residents in 2025, 4th in the country, slightly fewer than in 2020. It is the only state that borders both the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes, with Canada beyond them to the north. Its neighbors are Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. New York City, with about 8.58 million people, is the largest city, followed by Buffalo, Yonkers, Rochester and Syracuse. Albany has about 102,000.