Immigration in New York City by Priam Saywack The origins of New
York as an immigrant city can be found in the Dutch colony of
New Amsterdam. In 1624, the first European settlers, Walloons
from the Netherlands arrived in New Amsterdam. In 1643, less
than two decades later, there was ethnic diversity in the city;
a French Jesuit identified eighteen different languages. While
the first official census in 1790 confirmed that most
inhabitants of New York were English or Dutch, there were
significant Scottish, Irish, German, French, and Welsh
populations as well . A Brief History of Immigration to New York
City Large-scale immigration began in earnest in the early
nineteenth century. Between 1815 and 1915, over 33 million
immigrants arrived in the United States. Three quarters of these
immigrants passed through the Port of New York. Two great
immigrant centers were established during the nineteenth
century: Castle Garden and Ellis Island . In 1855, Castle
Garden, a disused fort at the southern tip of Manhattan, wh