Staten Island Mall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Staten Island Mall is a shopping mall in the Staten Island borough of New York City, United States. It is the only indoor shopping mall in the borough.[citation needed] It is the largest retail center on the island and is the site of the island's second largest public transit hub after the St. George ferry terminal, with numerous bus routes that connect to the periphery of the mall area.
[edit] Description and History
The mall is owned by General Growth Properties of Chicago, Illinois. It has 200 stores employing approximately 3,000 people. Anchor tenants include JCPenney, Macy's, and Sears.
Prior to the construction of the mall, the land was occupied by the Staten Island Airport, which opened in 1941. The site was sold in 1955 with a shopping and amusement center, known as the Staten Island Center, envisaged. Construction, however, did not commence until the 1960s, and the opening did not occur until August 9, 1973 with anchor tenants Macy's, and Sears. The mall's original developer was Feist and Feist Realty Corp. When the Rouse Company acquired the mall in 1980 they immediately added escalators, trees, and added several fountains throughout the mall. Two remaining fountains can be found at the original department store courts in front of Macy's and Sears. The center court fountains have been removed as of the summer of 2007.
The last major renovation and expansion of the mall was in 1993 when the JC Penney wing was completed. It has currently a two-story mall shaped like a letter "T", with a gross leasable area (GLA) of 1,229,000 square feet (114,000 m²) and a tenant GLA of 622,000 square feet (58,000 m²).
The music video for the New Radicals 1999 hit single "You Get What You Give" was filmed in the mall.