The East Village comes off as a bit more proper version of the West Village. Where in the west village the streets go wherever they want the East Village is buttoned down on the grid put in place in 1811 by DeWitt Clinton. The East Village is still quaint though and should not be overlooked. 

Peter Stuyvesant, the last Governor of New Netherland before the British took it over by force is buried at St Marks Church in the Bowery. The Bowery itself came from a 17th century dutch word Bouwerij meaning farm. This was literally Peter Stuyvesant's farm outside the city limits of New Amsterdam. St Marks is built on the grounds of the old Stuyvesant chapel and interestingly enough over the top of Peter Stuyvesant's grave which is built into the wall. 

There's not much left over from the old Dutch colony besides the names for things like The Bowery, Harlem, Brooklyn etc..  Even Wall Street is named after the protective wall built when Stuyvesant was running New Amsterdam.  Naturally I had to go find his grave and see the bust of him in the very odd cemetery with horizontal headstones at St Marks.