Green Acres Mall

Summary

Green Acres Mall is an indoor shopping mall located in South Valley Stream, New York, off Sunrise Highway in Nassau County near the border of New York City and the Incorporated Village of Valley Stream. As of 2022, the mall currently features two Macy's locations, as well as a Primark coming soon. The mall currently features staples like Express, H&M, and Forever 21.[1] The mall has a gross leasable area (GLA) of 2,069,000 square feet (192,200 m2).[2] The mall is the 18th largest in the United States. The mall is extremely popular in Nassau County and in the neighboring New York City borough of Queens. The mall is accessible by many Nassau Inter-County Express routes as well as two MTA New York City Bus routes, the Q5 and Q85, that cross the city border.

Green Acres Mall
An entrance to the mall on December 30, 2022.
Map
LocationSouth Valley Stream, New York, U.S.
Coordinates40°39′43″N 73°43′12″W / 40.662°N 73.720°W / 40.662; -73.720
Opening date1956; 68 years ago (1956)
OwnerMacerich
No. of stores and services174
No. of anchor tenants6
Total retail floor area2,069,000 square feet (192,200 m2)
No. of floors1 with partial upper level (3 in Macy's Men's and Furniture, 4 in main Macy's)
Public transit accessBus transport Nassau Inter-County Express: n1, Elmont Flexi Shuttle
Bus transport New York City Bus: Q5, Q85
WebsiteGreen Acres Mall

History edit

 
Mall entrance to Macy's, Green Acres Mall, Valley Stream NY
 
The main atrium of the mall.

Green Acres Mall was built in 1956 on the northern portion of Curtiss Airfield and was one of Long Island's first open air malls. It was partially built on the former site of the Columbia Aircraft Corporation.[3] In 1968, the mall was enclosed "to create an even more appealing shopping environment." At the time, there were three anchor stores, Lane's, JCPenney, and Gimbels. There were more renovations and an expansion in 1983 including adding a second level, food court and a fourth anchor store, Sears.[4]

In the Green Acres' early days, WMCA 'Good Guys' would broadcast from the mall – as would WABC.[5]

The ceilings, floors, and food court have been going under multimillion-dollar renovations to better compare to Long Island's largest mall, Roosevelt Field. The food court's renovation was finished in early 2006. The mall's other renovations were finished in March, 2007. New to the area is a Best Buy, Petsmart and a BJ's Wholesale Club which opened in early 2007.

Anchor stores edit

The mall currently has two anchors: Macy's and Macy's Men's & Furniture Gallery. It is currently owned and managed by The Macerich Company, having been previously owned and operated by Vornado Realty Trust until January 2013.[6][7] It was announced in May 2012 that Vornado planned to sell the mall and some of its other retail centers, and in October 2012, it was announced that the mall was being sold to Macerich in a deal that completed in the beginning of 2013.[6][7]

Former anchors edit

  • Gimbels - Closed in 1987. Replaced by Abraham & Straus, then Macy's
  • Lane's - Closed in 1960. Replaced by Love's, then S. Klein, then Korvettes, then Gertz, then Stern's, then Macy's Men's & Furniture Gallery

Green Acres Commons edit

 
Canopy outside entrance to Sonic Green Acres Commons

In 2015 the Sunrise Cinemas complex at 750 Sunrise Highway was acquired by RIPCONY,[8] a real estate management company, which completed the 366,000 SF of new shops and standalone eateries for Macerich Companies;[9] dubbed Green Acres Commons. The complex opened in October 2016[10] with BJs Brewhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, Ulta, 24-Hour Fitness, DXL, Five Below, Dick's Sporting Goods, HomeGoods, Sonic Drive-In, Ashley HomeStore, Burlington, and in 2017 Capital One Bank and 2019 AT&T. A Marshalls and HBC Bank are projected for future occupancy. Existing properties Bronx BBQ, a 8,000SF eatery on the northwest corner remained. To the south are Walmart and Home Depot.[11] There have been lawsuits to rollback a $4.5 million tax increase affecting the three-town area surrounding Green Acres Mall. Hempstead Town Industrial Development Agency provided a tax incentive to Green Acres Mall that would reduce the 2016 liability by that amount, resulting in increases that residents met with protests. The 15-year deal hinged on the promise of added security, renovations to the mall complex, and new higher-end stores which resulted in the commons.[12]

 
Walmart - Green Acres Mall
 
Home Depot - Green Acres Mall
 
Target - Green Acres Mall
 
Sonic Drive-In - Green Acres Mall

Public transportation edit

Green Acres Mall is served by two Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus routes: the n1 and the Elmont Flexi Shuttle.[13] In addition, the Q5 and Q85 bus routes of the New York City Transit Authority serve the mall. The bus terminal is located at the south end of the mall at Ring Road South.[13]

See also edit

Incidents edit

Series of incidents that have happened at Green Acres Mall

References edit

  1. ^ Part of the parking lot and stores on the north side of the property are in the Village, while the mall itself is in the unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place of South Valley Stream in the Town of Hempstead
  2. ^ "Green Acres Mall". International Council of Shopping Centers. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 27, 2007.
  3. ^ "Advance Sunrise Airport / Curtiss Airport / Columbia Aircraft Company Airfield, Valley Stream, NY, 40.66, -73.724 (East of JFK Airport, NY)". Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields. Archived from the original on December 23, 2018. Retrieved February 15, 2019. Advance Sunrise Airport was opened in 1928 on leased land of the Reisert farm. The airport was operated by Advance Aircraft Corporation, of which Francis Rogers was the president of the company. In 1929, Curtiss-Wright purchased the Advance Sunrise Airport property. Several millions of dollars were invested before the Curtiss Airport became operational. Hundreds of planes used the facility daily, along with famous aviators like Charles Lindbergh & Wiley Post.
  4. ^ "Green Acres History". Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  5. ^ Ingrassia, Michelle (May 24, 1998). "To the Malls, Bearing Money". Newsday. p. A54.
  6. ^ a b Winzelberg, David (May 23, 2012). "Vornado Realty Trust selling Green Acres mall". Long Island Business News. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
  7. ^ a b Jonas, Ilaina (October 22, 2012). "Macerich to buy two malls from Vornado and Vornado affiliate". Reuters. Retrieved October 23, 2012.
  8. ^ [1][dead link]
  9. ^ Ocasio, Victor (October 8, 2015). "LI mall's $84M expansion to add restaurants, stores". Newsday. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  10. ^ Costello, Alex (October 7, 2016). "Green Acres Commons Opens, Brings More Retail to South Shore". Malverne-Lynbrook, NY Patch. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "Long Island's Green Acres Mall to expand by $163 Million….Update's*". Political Dog 101. March 10, 2018. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "Green Acres Commons opens in Valley Stream". Herald Community Newspapers. October 19, 2016. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  13. ^ a b "Long Island Index: Interactive Map". www.longislandindexmaps.org. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  14. ^ Bonfiglio, Briana (December 5, 2022). ""Torso Killer" Admits to Decades-old Murders of 5 Women in Nassau, Pleads Guilty in Green Acres Mall Killing". Long Island Press. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  15. ^ News 12 Staff (September 1, 2019). "Hazmat incident prompts evacuation of Green Acres Mall". News 12. Retrieved September 1, 2019.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "Green Acres Mall shooting: Man struck in leg inside Famous Footwear". Fox 5 News. March 8, 2022.
  17. ^ Cergol, Greg; Shea, Tom (October 23, 2023). "Long Island mall locked down after shoplifter fires gun, runs off pantsless". NBC4NY. Retrieved October 23, 2023.

External links edit

  • Green Acres Mall official web site
  • International Council of Shopping Centers: Green Acres Mall