Roosevelt Field Mall
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| Facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | East Garden City, New York and Garden City, New York |
| Opening date | 1956 |
| Developer | I. M. Pei |
| Owner | Simon Property Group |
| No. of stores and services | 270+ |
| No. of anchor tenants | 6 |
| Total retail floor area | 2,189,941 sq ft. (203,452 m²) |
| No. of floors | 2 and a small concourse (JCPenney, Bloomingdale's, and Nordstrom each have 3 floors, with Macy's having 3 floors and a basement) |
| Website | Simon.com |
Roosevelt Field Mall is the largest shopping mall in the state of New York and eighth in the country as measured by gross leaseable area at 2,189,941 sq ft (203,452.2 m2). (203,452 m²). The Mall is located in East Garden City, New York, an unincorporated area of the Town of Hempstead, just to the east of the Village of Garden City on Long Island. The office buildings, on the west side of the mall property, are located in the Village of Garden City. The anchors of the 270 store mall are: Bloomingdale's, JCPenney, Macy's and Nordstrom. Previous anchor stores were Gimbels (succeeded by Stern's) A&S, and Alexander's (succeeded by Bloomingdale's). The original anchor stores were Macy's and Gimbels. The specialty stores cover a wide range of genre and include: Coach, Betsey Johnson, Free People, Abercrombie & Fitch, Wild Pair, Hot Topic and Sephora. Other stores include the Disney Store, Brookstone, & FYE. In addition to the food court, located on the second floor, there are several high-scale/sit-down restaurants located on the premises, including Houston's, Legal Sea Foods, The Grand Lux Cafe, Gasho Japan, The Panino Cafe and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.
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[edit] Location
The mall is located off of the Meadowbrook State Parkway, making it easily accessible from the Northern State Parkway, and Southern State Parkway. It is a major hub of MTA Long Island Bus, with several bus routes stopping in a terminal area next to the southern parking structure.
It was constructed on the site of, and named for, Roosevelt Field, an airport and military airfield where Charles Lindbergh took off on his historic trans-Atlantic flight. At one time, there was a plaque at the north end of the mall (in the hall that now connects Dick's and JCPenney) that marked the spot where Lindbergh left the ground. Today the plaque is inside of the mall outside of the Disney Store.
[edit] History
As an airfield, the land served as the take-off site of many famous aviators such as Amelia Earhart and Wiley Post. Charles Lindbergh's solo translatlantic flight took off from Roosevelt Field in 1927. The field was originally named Curtiss Field and was renamed in honor of Theodore Roosevelt's son, Quentin who died in World War I. After the airfield was closed in 1951, the site was developed by New York's William Zeckendorf and designed by I.M. Pei.
Ground was broken on the 35 million dollar project in April 1955. The center opened with a single level and was an open-air center. It included F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10, Walgreen Drug, Food Fair supermarket, Buster Brown Shoes, a public auditorium and an indoor ice rink. The first and original anchor of the mall was a 2-level, 343,000-square-foot (31,900 m2) Macy's which opened on August 22, 1956. In 1962 a 25,000-square-foot (2,300 m2) Gimbels opened where Dick's Sporting Goods and Bloomingdale's Furniture Gallery stands today. With the addition, the complex held over 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2). A major extension was completed in 1963. Macy's had a 85,000-square-foot (7,900 m2) third level added. In 1968 The Century Roosevelt Cinema began operation. At this time the mall was enclosed. In 1972 a second major expansion was completed which added a 3-level, 260,000-square-foot (24,000 m2) J.C. Penney and a 2-level 31,400-square-foot (2,920 m2) Alexander's. La Petite Mall, a Tudor-style expansion built in 1974 that had architecturally reinforced the novelty of shopping indoors. An upper level of stores and food court was established in 1993 after a major renovation which started in 1991. When Alexander's had gone bust in 1991. Abraham & Straus demolished the former Alexander's, and built a brand-new store on the former Alexander's site, which opened in 1992. The Abraham and Straus location at Roosevelt Field only lasted 3 years, until 1995, when the chain became defunct. The store was slightly renovated, and re-opened as a Bloomingdale's in 1998. Currently, the Bloomingdale's store at Roosevelt Field is undergoing a major renovation, which should be finished by the Summer of 2009. The Gimbels anchor was a Stern's between 1987 and 2001. After Stern's closed, the spot was taken over by Galyan's, which opened in 2003 which was bought out by Dick's Sporting Goods in 2004. Dick's Sporting Goods occupied the eastern section and Bloomingdale's Furniture Gallery, which opened in 2004 occupies the western half. A new, 3-story Nordstrom and a 2-story wing leading to the new Nordstrom opened in August 1997. Simon Property Group took ownership of the mall when they had acquired Corporate Property Investors in 1998.
[edit] Security
From the 1970s through the end of the 1980s security at Roosevelt Field Mall was provided by a house security group that was made up of retired NYPD officers and a contract group of guards hired from K-Security Guard Corp. of Bellmore, NY. The Nassau County Police Department also had a foot post assigned to the mall -- Special Post 10 (which is still there today).
[edit] Anchors
- Bloomingdale's (270,000 sq ft.) Opened in 1998 - 3 Floors with small entrance lobby between Basement and Main Levels. The Store has Mall Access from the Store's Main Level and Upper Level (3 Above including the lobby, 1 Below
- Bloomingdale's Furniture Gallery - Opened 2004 (2 Floors above ground)
- Dick's Sporting Goods (250,000 sq ft.) Opened 2003 (2 Floors above ground, with Basement Stockroom)
- JCPenney (260,000 sq ft.) Opened 1972 - 3 Floors (2 above, 1 below)
- Macy's (425,000 sq ft.) Opened 1956 - 4 Floors (3 above, 1 below)
- Nordstrom (225,000 sq ft.) Opened 1997 (3 Floors Above Ground)
[edit] Former anchors
- Gimbels - occupied by Stern's - Part of the store was converted to Galyan's in 2003, then Dick's Sporting Goods in 2004, the rest of the store is a Bloomingdale's Furniture Gallery, and the basement is XSport Fitness
- Alexander's - demolished 1990, Rebuilt as Abraham & Straus in 1992, Closed 1995, re-opened as Bloomingdale's in 1998
