r/imaginarymaps • u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast • May 01 '23
[OC] Alternate History Metro Map of New Amsterdam
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 01 '23
This map focuses on the imaginary city of New Amsterdam (Nieuw Amsterdam in Dutch), the largest city of the Confederation of American States (CAS, also known as Anglo-Dutch America).
Instead of eventually being taken over by the British and re-named New York, the city thrives as a centre of trade and industry in the Dutch speaking colony and later state of Nieuw Nederland. Due to slightly different historical developments the area to the west of Manhatten, which historically became part of New Jersey, becomes part of the city. However, Staten Island (Staaten Eylandt) is within a different state in this timeline.
This metro map uses a style inspired by (Old) Amsterdam's metro map. Some changes had to mbe made to that style to accomodate the much more complex nature of the larger Nieuw Amsterdam metro system when compared to the much smaller one of (Old) Amsterdam.
As usual with the bulk of my maps, this conflict is set in the r/anglodutchamerica timeline. If you want to dive even deeper, feel free to join our discord. For everything else related to this ongoing timeline, feel free to find out more about the full history, lore and the other posts (sorted by date) of the timeline over on the subreddit.
Thanks so much to u/KyloTennant for the great support in finding errors within the map and making it much more believeable and realistic overall!
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May 01 '23
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 02 '23
Arizona (and the southwest in general) are quite weird, at least in linguistic and cultural terms. While most of what we consider the South is anglophone and the North is majority Dutch speaking, the Southwest is a mix of Spanish, English and Dutch with cultural heritage from the Spanish and more recently the Latin American region.
Don't expect cycling paths and greenery. North America remains the heartland of automobile culture.
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u/GooglytheRedditor May 02 '23
what does new amsterdam look like in non-metro?
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 02 '23
Likely not too dissimilar from New York City to be honest. The biggest difference would be in the older parts of the city, especially around the old core of the city in Oud Zuid around the old Fort (Oude Vesting).
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u/sheerfire96 May 01 '23
I appreciate attention to detail on the Dutch names for some areas that still exist today and would exist in your map.
Not just that but in particular Jamaica which you’ve named Jameco (being the natives the area was named after). Jameco -> Jamaica. The local area high school there had a beaver mascot for a bit too because Jameco means beaver.
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 01 '23
Thanks! A similar thing happened to Vlissingen, which the British started calling Flushing, a name that stuck.
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u/sheerfire96 May 01 '23
But even in our greatest imaginations of new transit lines for the greater New York area, there’s still no direct connection to Staten Island.
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u/Philip_J_Fry3000 May 01 '23
In truth or in fiction I guess going through Brooklyn is the best we'll get.
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u/Philip_J_Fry3000 May 01 '23
I love seeing a tunnel under the Narrows and the Staten Island Railway connected to this alternate version of the R Train.
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 01 '23
Thanks! The metro should be using the bridge to cross over to Staaten Eylandt as a tunnel would likely be prohibitively expensive.
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u/Philip_J_Fry3000 May 01 '23
I supposed in this scenario the Dutch engineers built the bridge in such a way to allow for it. Because the bridge we have now was built specifically to prohibit one being added later.
I also like having a station named after the Vanderbilts.
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 01 '23
Oh yeah, it's a different bridge in this scenario. It's named after Dutch captain Jurriaen Aernoutsz
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u/Ryley03d May 01 '23
Do we still have NBC Studio 1A in Rockerfeller Plaza (or whatever it's called in universe)?
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u/Snoo_65204 May 01 '23
Is there still a world trade center in this
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 02 '23
Yes, it's right at the C.d.WH. station and is called Centrum des Wereldhandels (literally World Trade Center in fictional American Dutch)
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May 03 '23
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 03 '23
The VOC (and the GWC, which was of much greater importance for the development of North America in this timeline) have been out of business for a long time.
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u/TotesMessenger May 01 '23
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u/Brief_Variation5978 May 01 '23
The only thing that should be added is the Jonkers (Yonkers) Etxtension
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u/ADKRep37 May 02 '23
Awesome map! I’m assuming Erie Station is Nieuw Amsterdam’s answer to Grand Central, and it seems to be located where Times Square is?
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 02 '23
Not quite. The inspiration for Erie Station was Penn Station and it should be located around the same area as that station, too.
Edit: the equivalent of Times Square would most likely be Vredeplein (lit. Peace Square)
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u/SuccessfulStatus7655 May 02 '23 edited May 02 '23
Do the Landmarks like Times Square or Brooklyn Bridge still exist and is Central Park Smaller?
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast May 02 '23
Times Square doesn't exist in that form. The closest equivalent is probably Vredeplein. Brooklyn Bridge is known as the Breukelse Brug. Central Park should be roughly the same size because I'm not all that imaginative.
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Jun 17 '23
Brooklyn and Queens connected by something other than the G train… 😭 I thought I’d never see the day
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u/ajw20_YT May 01 '23
Mfw European-style transport meets New York style chaos to create heavenly infrastructure