The Dutch brought Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) to New Amsterdam, current day NYC, which has developed into Santa Claus as we know it know. Santa Claus is a phonetic derivation of Sinterklaas.

Apparently he was depicted as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with a pipe and a green outfit in Washington Irving’s History of New York book, so maybe that’s where you got that idea from.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Claus