Green Acres Mall

History

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. 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.

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

To better compare to Long Island's largest mall, Roosevelt Field, multimillion-dollar renovations to the food court were completed in 2006, and the mall's ceilings and floors completed 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

The mall currently has three anchors: Macy's, Macy's Men's & Furniture Gallery, and Primark. It is currently owned and managed by The Macerich Company, having been previously owned and operated by Vornado Realty Trust until January 2013. 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.

Former anchors

• Gimbels (218,700 sqft)- Opened in 1956 with the mall and closed in 1987. It was replaced by Abraham & Straus in 1986 and then Macy's in 1995.

• Lane's (216,400 sqft)- Opened in 1960 and closed in 1965. It was first replaced by Love's in 1966, which was then converted to S. Klein in 1968. Korvettes took over the space in 1975. Then Gertz took over in 1982 and was rebranded as Stern’s a year later. After Federated Department Stores retired the Stern’s nameplate in 2001, the space was subdivided between a Macy's Men's & Furniture Gallery and Kohls. Kohls closed in 2019 and its space is still vacant as of 2026 with redevelopment plans in the works.

• JCPenney (53,400/113,160 sqft)- Opened in 1957 and closed in 2020 after nearly 63 years of operation. In 1982 the store was expanded into the basement doubling its size. After it closed, the ground floor was subdivided between Uniqlo and Primark, which opened in 2023.

• Century 21 (72,300 sqft)- Opened in 2015 in a space made up of 18 former interior stores.[4][5] It closed in 2021 when the chain went out of business and became a Shoppers World for a short period until 2024. It was then turned back into interior mall space with Foot Locker taking up the largest section on the first level. As of 2026, the whole upper level remains vacant.

• J. J. Newberry (52,000 sqft)- Opened in 1957 and closed by the 1980s. It was turned into additional mall space after closing.

• Sears (150,000 sqft)- Opened in 1983 and closed in 2021. It is currently being demolished along with the adjacent parking garage and auto center for new green spaces, dining, and an 80,000 sqft ShopRite scheduled to open in 2027.

• Alexander’s (320,000 sqft)- Opened in 1967 and closed in 1992 when the chain went bankrupt. The store sat on the mall property close to Sunrise Hwy but was not connected to the mall itself. After closing it was demolished and a Caldor was built on the site in 1994, which would later become Target in 1999.

Green Acres Commons

In 2015 the Sunrise Cinemas complex at 750 Sunrise Highway was acquired by RIPCONY, a real estate management company, which completed the 366,000 SF of new shops and standalone eateries for Macerich Companies; dubbed Green Acres Commons. The complex opened in October 2016 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. 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.

Public transportation

Green Acres Mall is served by two Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) bus routes: the and the Elmont Flexi Shuttle. In addition, the Q5 (weekends only), Q87, and Q89 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.

Incidents

Series of incidents that have happened at Green Acres Mall

• 1968: Richard Cottingham, also known as the "Torso Killer", murders 23-year-old Diane Cusick
• September 1, 2019: Ammonia and bleach mixed in a pump sump
• March 7, 2022: Worker shot in the leg by gunman in the famous footwear kiosk
• October 23, 2023: Mall on lock down after shoplifting suspect supposedly fired a gun

References

References

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, New York. South Valley Stream]] in the Town of [[Hempstead, New York. Hempstead]]
2. "Green Acres Mall".
3. "Advance Sunrise Airport / Curtiss Airport / Columbia Aircraft Company Airfield, Valley Stream, NY, 40.66, -73.724 (East of JFK Airport, NY)".
4. "Green Acres History".
5. Ingrassia, Michelle. (May 24, 1998). "To the Malls, Bearing Money". [[Newsday]].
6. Winzelberg, David. (2012-05-23). "Vornado Realty Trust selling Green Acres mall {{!}} Long Island Business News".
7. Jonas, Ilaina. "Macerich to buy two malls from Vornado and Vornado affiliate". U.S..
8. (2019-01-18). "Kohl's to close LI store, affecting 81 workers".
9. Winzelberg, David. (2023-06-23). "Primark opens at Green Acres Mall {{!}} Long Island Business News".
10. (2021-10-22). "Shoppers World opens first LI discount store, in Green Acres Mall".
11. White, Mike. (2025-06-02). "Green Acres Mall demolition marks start of massive project in Valley Stream".
12. [https://www.ripcony.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ValleyStreamNY_750SunriseHwy_2018-Exclusive-Flyer.pdf]{{dead link. (April 2020)
13. Ocasio, Victor. (Oct 8, 2015). "LI mall's $84M expansion to add restaurants, stores".
14. Costello, Alex. (Oct 7, 2016). "Green Acres Commons Opens, Brings More Retail to South Shore".
15. (Mar 10, 2018). "Long Island’s Green Acres Mall to expand by $163 Million….Update’s*".
16. (October 19, 2016). "Green Acres Commons opens in Valley Stream".
17. "Long Island Index: Interactive Map".
18. (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.
19. News 12 Staff. (September 1, 2019). "Hazmat incident prompts evacuation of Green Acres Mall". News 12.
20. (March 8, 2022). "Green Acres Mall shooting: Man struck in leg inside Famous Footwear".
21. (October 23, 2023). "Long Island mall locked down after shoplifter fires gun, runs off pantsless".