Roosevelt Field (shopping mall)

Roosevelt Field Mall

The west entrance to Roosevelt Field Mall
Location	630 Old Country Road, East Garden City (Uniondale), New York
Opening date	December 14, 1956;67 years ago (1956-12-14)
Developer	William Zeckendorf designed by I. M. Pei
Management	Simon Property Group
Owner	Simon Property Group
No. of stores and services	243 [1]
No. of anchor tenants	7
Total retail floor area	2,372,053 sq ft (220,371 m2) [2]
No. of floors	3 with concourse (3 in Bloomingdale's, JCPenney, & Nordstrom; 4 in Macy's; basement offices in Dick's Sporting Goods)
Parking	4 parking garages; lighted lot
Public transit access	Nassau Inter-County Express : n15, n16, n22, n22X, n24, n27, n35, n43 Long Island Rail Road : Mineola (via n22, n24), Carle Place (via n22)
Website	www.simon.com/mall/roosevelt-field

Roosevelt Field is a shopping mall in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, New York. ^[3] It is the largest shopping mall on Long Island, the second-largest in the State of New York, and the tenth-largest shopping mall in the United States. ^[4]

Designed by architect I. M. Pei, Roosevelt Field Mall is managed by Simon Property Group. It is the second most successful mall in the state. ^[5] Major retailers at the mall include Primark, Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney, Macy's, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, and Neiman Marcus.

Location

Satellite photo of the mall in 2008

Roosevelt Field is located adjacent to the Meadowbrook State Parkway, making it accessible from the Northern State Parkway and the Southern State Parkway. It is a major bus hub for Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE), with several bus routes stopping in a terminal area near the mall's southern parking structure. ^[6]

The mall was constructed on the site of (and is named for) Roosevelt Field – an airport and military airfield where Charles Lindbergh began his historic trans-Atlantic flight. At one time, a plaque at the north end of the mall (in the hall that now connects Dick's Sporting Goods and JCPenney) marked the spot where Lindbergh took off. It was later moved near the Disney Store, but was removed during a renovation to the mall in the 2010s.

History

Interior of Roosevelt Field, 2022

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 transatlantic flight took off from Roosevelt Field in 1927. The field was originally named Hazelhurst 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 project in April 1955. The center opened with a single level and was an open-air center. It included a Woolworth five-and-dime store, a Walgreens drug store, a Food Fair supermarket, a Buster Brown shoe store, a public auditorium, a movie theater, and an outdoor ice rink. The original anchor of the mall was a 2-level 343,000 ft² (31,900 m²) Macy's, which opened on August 22, 1956.

In 1962, a 250,000 ft² (2,320 m²) Gimbels store opened. Today, the structure houses Dick's Sporting Goods and Primark. With the addition, the complex held over 1,000,000 ft² (92,900 m²). A major extension was completed in 1964. Macy's had an 85,000 ft² (7,900 m²) third level added. In 1968, The Century Roosevelt Cinema began operation. At that time, the mall was enclosed.

In 1972, a second major expansion was completed which added a 3-level, 260,000 ft² (24,200 m²) J.C. Penney, which was later completely renovated in 2010, and a 2-level 314,000 ft² (2,900 m²) Alexander's. Le Petit Mall, a Tudor-style expansion was built in 1974 that 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 went bankrupt in 1992, Abraham & Straus gutted the building and extensively renovated it, opening in 1992. The Abraham & Straus location at Roosevelt Field only lasted until 1995, when the chain became defunct. The store was slightly renovated, and re-opened as a Bloomingdale's in 1995. The Bloomingdale's store at Roosevelt Field had a major renovation, which was finished by the summer of 2009. The former 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 (later 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, occupied the western half until closing in 2019. 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 in 1998, when it acquired Corporate Property Investors.

In March 2012, it was announced that a new 100,000-square-foot building anchored by luxury department store Neiman Marcus would be added to Roosevelt Field. Opened on February 19, 2016, this expansion created room for even more shops leading up to the luxury department store and was accompanied by a new parking structure. ^[7] During the renovation of the mall in 2015, the glass elevators in the center were removed to create a play area and new elevators were built to replace them. Simon had discovered that the scenic elevators had to be removed due to severe hydraulic oil leakage.

On November 17, 2022, Ireland-based retailer Primark opened its first Long Island store at the mall, in the space which had previously been occupied by Bloomingdale's Furniture Gallery. ^[8]

By 2023, after the government lockdown, Roosevelt Field had announced several newer additions, among them are Brilliant Earth, Rudsak, TYR, Kendra Scott, Primark, Savage X Fenty, Warby Parker, TAG Heuer, Armani Exchange, Offline by Aerie, and Abercrombie & Fitch. ^[9]

Roosevelt Field Mall Bus Terminal

An n22 bus at the Roosevelt Field Mall Bus Terminal in 2021.

The Roosevelt Field Mall Bus Terminal is a major bus hub serving bus routes operated by Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE), located at the mall. ^{[6] [10] [11]} It features a total of seven bus bays and is located adjacent to the mall's south parking garage. ^{[6] [11] [12]}

The bus terminal is served by the n15, n16, n22, n22x, n24, n27, n35, and n43 Nassau Inter-County Express bus routes. ^[6]

See also

• Smith Haven Mall
• Walt Whitman Shops

References

1. "Store Directory for Roosevelt Field® - A Shopping Center In East Garden City, NY - A Simon Property". www.simon.com.
2. "Do Business at Roosevelt Field®, a Simon Property". business.simon.com.
3. "Leasing & Advertising at Roosevelt Field®, a SIMON Center". business.simon.com. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
4. Wangethi, Isaac (2023-03-03). "The largest mall in America: 10 biggest shopping centres ranked". Legit.ng - Nigeria news. Retrieved 2023-06-02.
5. Thomas, Lauren (2018-01-29). "America's 10 most valuable malls are bringing in billions in sales". CNBC .
6. "Maps & Schedules – Nassau Inter-County Express". Nassau Inter-County Express . Retrieved 2023-11-06.
7. "Roosevelt Field Mall Getting $100 Million Makeover". CBS New York. 17 September 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
8. Winzelberg, David (2022-11-15). "Primark opening first LI store at Roosevelt Field". Long Island Business News. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
9. Dziemianowicz, Joe (January 29, 2024). "New stores coming to Roosevelt Field, Walt Whitman and Smith Haven malls in 2024". Newsday. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
10. Costello, Alex (2017-06-15). "Two Queens Men Assaulted Bus Driver, Resisted Arrest: Police". Garden City, NY Patch. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
11. "Travel, Visit & Shop at Roosevelt Field®". www.simon.com. Retrieved 2023-11-07.
12. "Roosevelt Field Mall Site Plan" (PDF). business.simon.com. Retrieved 2023-11-06.

External links

• Roosevelt Field (Official Site)
• Mall City (June 1983), RCTV, documentary about mall culture at Roosevelt Field in the early 1980s.

40°44′17″N73°36′45″W / 40.73806°N 73.61250°W / 40.73806; -73.61250