The Netherlands

Zabar’s

Photographs: Imogen Brown

Four hundred years ago, Henry Hudson, an Englishman sponsored by the Dutch East India Company, sailed out of Amsterdam and landed on our fair shores. He fell for what is now Manhattan and as a result, the Dutch founded “New Netherland” a decade before the Mayflower reached American soil. Columbia professor and commercial translator Wijnie E. de Groot says natives of the Netherlands are famous for their willingness to assimilate, but the boroughs still boast enough treats to pack your staycation itinerary. Let’s go Dutch!

Eat and drink

De Groot suggests newcomers head first to Zabar’s (2245 Broadway at 80th St, 212-787-2000), which stocks classic Netherlandian eats like stroopwafels, sandwich cookies filled with sweet syrup, and crispy, double-baked beschuits, sometimes covered in sprinkles and served to celebrate a birth.

Expats can also head to Danku (47 W 57th St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 212-888-3777), a fast-food joint that shills snacks from the Netherlands and Indonesia (a former Dutch colony). Offerings include mini pancakes called poffertjes, and krokets, fried dough filled with everything from macaroni and cheese to salmon and dill.

“Measuring Your Own Grave”

On Sundays, join transplanted Dutchies for drinks at nominally French café Felix (340 West Broadway at Grand St, 212-431-0021). Tax manager and Dutch transplant Sylvester Gooijers says Felix is “open and crazy and crowded, just like being in a popular bar in Amsterdam.”

Explore

Get thee to the Museum of Modern Art before February 16 for “Measuring Your Own Grave,” the largest-ever American exhibition of the works of painter Marlene Dumas (11 W 53rd St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 212-708-9400; $20, students $12, Fri 4–8pm free). Born in South Africa, Dumas adopted Amsterdam as her own in the ’70s and has been working there ever since.

Corporate tax lawyer and Dutch transplant Willemijn Tabbers likes Chelsea’s Witzenhausen Gallery (547 W 27th St at Eleventh Ave, fifth floor, 212-239-1124), the first satellite of an Amsterdam art house; it opened last September with an exhibition of works by Dutch photog Hendrik Kerstens. Through February 14, the gallery will show the work of Rachid Ben Ali, a Dutch-Moroccan artist whose ballsy pieces are often critical of Muslim extremism.

Peter Stuyvesant, the last governor-general of the colony of New Amsterdam, is memorialized in bronze in Stuyvesant Square (between Livingston and Rutherford Pls and 15th to 17th Sts), built on farmland that one of his descendants sold to the city for $5 in 1836. But this isn’t just any likeness—Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s statue, unveiled in 1941, actually depicts the Stuy guy’s wooden leg.

Can’t get enough Pete? Visit his grave at contemporary arts hub St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery (131 E 10th St at Second Ave, 212-674-6377).

Don’t forget to snap some touristy pics at Prada’s local flagship (575 Broadway at Prince St, 212-334-8888); it was designed by Dutch modernist architect Rem Koolhaas.

Speak as the Dutch speak

Need to call someone an idiot? Whip out a dombo or a knor. How about an attention whore? Publiciteitsgeil translates literally as “publicity horny.” For a big lovefest, cough up this one: Ik ben gek op New York (“I am crazy about New York”).

Do as the Dutch do

“If you truly want to feel like you are in the Netherlands,” advises Susan De Vries, director of the Dutch colonial Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, “you need to be near water and surrounded by bicycles—and perhaps in danger of being hit.” Indeed, the Netherlands is the only European nation with more bicycles than people (1.11 bikes per person). Tear up Central Park on two wheels and you’re halfway to Amsterdam.

FUN FACTS

* According to Vox Research, the U.S. is the fourth most popular destination for Dutch emigrants, after Belgium, Germany and France.

* Harlem is named for the Dutch city Haarlem; Coney Island comes from the Dutch Conyne Eylandt; and the Bronx is named for New Netherland settler Jonas Bronck.

* Slim-Fast and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream are both Dutch-owned products.