The first Jew to set foot in New Amsterdam was Asser Levy who emigrated from Vilnas in Poland. He is thought to have arrived on the Peerblom with two Jewish companions on Aug 22, 1654. Two weeks later 23 Sephardic Jews came from Recife Brazil. Peter Stuyvesant didn't want to let them stay, complained to the Dutch West India Company and was told that he had to let them live there. So, he made them pay military taxes and created lots of rules that they had to comply with. It made life difficult enough so that many of the jews eventually left. But not Asser Levy. He began a series of petitions to the municipal court to overcome every impedient he encountered. He turned out to be quite clever and extremely resourceful. As soon as he was allowed to be a burgher, he immediately purchased land on South William Street, making him the first permanent Jewish resident in New York. Successive petitions led to a career as a merchant and then a 'sworn butcher'. He established what became the first kosher slaughterhouse on Wall Street and made enough money to buy real estate in Long Island and New Jersey. He was wealthy enough by 1664 to contribute money to help the Dutch defend the colony against the British. As soon as the British took over, he swore an oath of allegience to them, kept his property and even was the first Jew to serve on a jury in 1671. By the time he died in 1682, he had amassed a considerable fortune which kept his 400 odd heirs squabbling over for years.
