400 years ...

The Verrazano - Narrows Bridge, over the mouth of the Hudson from MS Noordam (Brooklyn on the left, Staten Island on the right. Click to embiggen.)

Since Henry Hudson sailed up the river that would eventually bear his name to explore what would become the greatest city in the world.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Giovanni de Verrazano was said to be the first European to see the river. But it was Englishman Henry Hudson, sailing for the Dutch, who was the first European to explore it.

That was 400 years ago. How times flies.

And starting Tuesday, the celebration begins.

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"It is the most compelling untold stories in American history," Reynolds said. "The Dutch made the only settlement in North America that was multicultural."

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I'm happy to report, the Niew Amsterdam settlement still is.

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"When you come in through the narrows, no matter if there is a bridge now and wasn't 400 years ago or whether you see Manhattan, you still get a thrill," he said.

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I've done it more than once on cruise ships and ocean liners and all I can say is, indeed!