It may not have been New York’s first amusement park, but Williamsburg certainly was a vacationland for New York’s well-to-do. Way back in the day, Williamsburg was a vacation spot, complete with county estates on the waterfront. If you look at this map from the (always useful) Brooklyn Genealogy site, you’ll notice that the blocks to the south of Grand Street all had mansion on the east side of Kent Avenue, facing the water.
So, 175 years later, it seems appropriate that we’ll finally be able to enjoy our waterfront again.