Page "Brooklyn" Paragraph 4

The Village of Breuckelen, named for Breukelen in the province of Utrecht in the Netherlands, was authorized by the Dutch West India Company in 1646 ; it became the first municipality in what is now New York State.

At the time, Breuckelen was part of New Netherland.

Other villages which were later incorporated into Brooklyn were Boswijk ( Bushwick ), Nieuw Utrecht ( New Utrecht ), and Nieuw Amersfoort ( Flatlands ).

A few houses and cemeteries still bear witness to the Dutch origins of the borough of Brooklyn, including the oldest house of New York City, the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House in Flatlands.