| The area known as Spuyten Duyvil on Metro-North's ex-NYC RR Hudson Line got its name one dark and stormy night in the 1600's. Back then, New York was a Dutch colony called Nieuw Amsterdam. According to the history books, a messenger named Antony Van Corlear vowed to swim across the channel here "in spite of the devil" to bring urgent news to settlers north of Manhattan. Despite the known danger, Van Corlear entered the swift, turbulent waters and quickly vanished beneath the waves. But his courageous vow that night echoes to the present day as the name of the nearby train station |