First time since Super Bowl XLVIII that the Meadowlands will host a national American football trophy match.
I love unbiased journalism
I try to limit my support for NYPost, so def not clicking on that link to find out what law was allegedly flouted.
I visited American Dream last weekend, my previous visit was 2022. It’s been a remarkable turn around of fortunes from 2022. The mall is alive and well, remarkable.
I’ve never been to it, despite living nearby. Can you comment on what specific differences you saw from '22 to now?
I’ll speak for myself here but they’ve done a great job opening the spaces to more than just retail. There’s multiple food areas now open. H-Mart and the adjoining food court, the 3rd floor is filled with new full sized restaurants, etc. A movie theater coming soon. They attracted a lot of local events so there’s always something happening every weekend. There’s a mini Sesame Street experience opening near the ice rink. It’s amazing considering there are still entire sections devoid of any retail, yet turn a corner and every spot is taken. It’s also full of children… 
so they derive a lot of foot traffic from families visiting the water and theme park. Back then, I’d say two thirds of the mall was empty and now it’s more like two thirds full.
Here’s a photo I took from this past August vs a similar angle in 2021
Photo Source
Wow, you’re not kidding. Those pictures are pretty illustrative of what you mean. Thanks for the info
In 2022 most of the mall was empty, this recent trip it was mostly occupied with a couple of “coming Soons” here and there. This is remarkable considering the slump malls in general have been in and that this is the second largest mall in the country. I chalk it up to the people behind running the American Dream actually know what they are doing, they got the mix right. It’s the right mix of high-end and low-end retail, right mix of entertainment and dinning.
There was also plenty of activities going on, school of rock was doing performances and there were celebrations for the Chinese New Year. It reminds me of what malls were like in the '80s, entertainment like arcades and live shows (Tiffany and Debbie Gibson) mixed with dining.
There’s so much potential with the Meadowlands. Fill in all those parking lots with some nice hotels and condos. Fix the Meadowlands rail spur so that it runs through to Secaucus Jct. and Hoboken, make it a regular stop on the Pascack Valley line. Extend the Hudson Bergen Light Rail. Connect the American Dream with Metlife via an outdoor entertainment corridor with some kind of Xfinity Live type of entertainment center in the middle.
I definitely think the decline of the mall is hitting the bottom. Some malls needed to go, some malls just need to be renovated, go through a bit of a re-imagining and mission change and they will once again thrive. My local mall, Freehold Raceway, is definitely on an upswing once again after a few rough years. I think the new Monmouth Mall redevelopment is going to be hugely successful. The Garden State Plaza is going through a renovation, that mall will do well. I think the Willow Brook will do well with some re-imagining. Same with Menlo Park.
The Woodbridge mall needs to either go the route of the Monmouth Mall redevelopment or just be demolished and replaced with housing and hotels so that the nearby Menlo Mall could be the area’s focus.