Concerted efforts were made to ensure the success of the new settlement, situated atop the hill west of Communipaw, which was made "distinct and separate" village.History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century, Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer, Vol. I, The Macmillan Company, New York, 1909 It was laid out following a design by Jacques Cortelyou, Surveyor General of New Amsterdam: on each side, to be surrounded by wooden palisade.
