Peter Stuyvesant ( c. 1612 â `` August 1672 ) , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony New Netherland ( known today as New York City ) from 1647 to 1664 , when the English took control of the island . Peter Stuyvesant ( c. 1612 -- August 1672 ) , served as the last Dutch Director-General of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664 , after which it was renamed New York .