John Amsterdam

John Amsterdam (aka Johann van der Zee, J. G. Benwaar, John York) is over 400 years old, yet he appears as somebody who is is in early 30's due to a special gift that he received from a Lenape shaman for saving the life of a young girl who was an aboriginal inhabitant of Manhattan. John has used many names over the years in order to blend in with each generation as he tries to live his life in relative obscurity. John Amsterdam is the current name that he has chosen to use, which he has used for about 20 years.
His name is in reference to the original name for New York City, which was known as New Amsterdam by the early Dutch immigrants who were some of the first people from Europe to call Manhattan home.
John is condemned to live an immortal life until he finds his one true love, at which time he will be able to grow old together with this woman. His quest in life is now to try and find this woman, and is constantly trying to form relationships with women that he meets in order to discover if they can become that one true love. Over the years John has had several deep relationships, including establishing families and having children with several women. He claims to have 63 children.
John is also obsessed with death and how things die, which is also why he has chosen to become a New York City detective in the homicide division. As he is unable to die, he tries to uncover clues that bring about the end of the lives of others around him.
John does "die", temporarily, when he meets Dr. Sara Dillane for the first time on the New York City Subway, leading John to believe that Sara might be "the one" that he has been looking for his whole life.
===See also===
* Aliases of John Amsterdam
* Children of John Amsterdam
* Wives and Lovers of John Amsterdam
* Careers of John Amsterdam