Birth of a City: Nieuw Amsterdam & Old New York

ASSER LEVY'S HOME
Location: ? Stone Street at Mill Lane
Dutch Name: ? Hoogh Straet (High Street)

In a house on this site lived the Jewish trader and butcher Asser Levy. Possibly born in Lithuania, Levy probably came here from Amsterdam in 1654, the same year 23 other Jews fleeing Portuguese persecution arrived from Brazil. Director-General Stuyvesant and the town's Dutch clergy wanted to expel them from the colony. But the Dutch West India Company insisted that Stuyvesant let the Jews stay, and allow them to worship privately. They held Sabbath services in their homes, signaling the start of the Jewish communal life in North America.

Levy petitioned to serve in the militia which patrolled the town. Once again, Company officials in the Dutch Republic affirmed his right to be treated equally. Levy took part alongside his Christian neighbors. He remained a townsman and landowner after the English conquest of 1664.

Shearith Israel, the Jewish congregation founded by early colonists, built its first synagogue on the site of 20-24 South William Street in 1730. This Jewish community marked the beginnings of New York's role as home to the world's emigrants seeking freedom from oppression.

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