For Valley Stream Mayor Ed Fare, Christmas has never started with the calendar. The season has begun when the juggling Santa appears outside Green Acres.
“When we saw that juggling Santa go up out front of Green Acres Mall on Sunrise Highway, we knew Christmas was coming,” Fare said.
Fare shared that memory and others last Friday, when Green Acres, on the border of Nassau County and Queens, celebrated its 70th anniversary — and its inclusion in the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry. The morning ceremony, near Old Navy, drew local elected officials, Chamber of Commerce members, community groups and longtime residents. Many traded stories about growing up at the mall.
Jill Bromberg, Green Acres’ marketing and community relations manager, said the recognition honors the mall’s ties to the community as much as its history. She noted its initiatives to give backpacks to students and to deliver turkeys to families for the holidays.
Bromberg also highlighted the breakfasts served to guests, prepared by students in the Valley Stream Central High School District’s culinary arts program. “Look no further than the incredible breakfast today, created by the truly talented culinary students,” she said.
She announced that Green Acres will fund an additional scholarship at the high school’s next Senior Awards Night for a student involved in culinary arts.
Bromberg thanked Fare and village staff for their support. “Your leadership and partner
ship have helped strengthen the connection between Green Acres and the village,” she said.
Fare, who taught at Valley Stream Central High for 40 years, took the crowd back to the 1960s, when he and his brothers walked to the mall from their home nearby. Their regular stop was a pretzel kiosk, where three pretzels cost a quarter. Over the years the price crept up to 50 cents, and then 75 and finally $1, when, Fare recounted, he was so outraged that he stopped buying them.
Today, he noted, a dollar won’t even buy one.
He recalled when Gimbels anchored the mall alongside Klein’s and Korvettes, where he worked in 1979.
Fare credited Bromberg with keeping residents connected to the mall despite frequent turnover in business and local government. “Jill, you’ve been a rock,” he said, “and you’ve really been involved with making sure the community is aware.”
He presented her with a framed village citation honoring the mall’s seven decades, as well as a citation from Nassau County Comptroller Elaine Phillips, who could not attend.
“We thank you on behalf of all 45,000 residents in the incorporated Village of Valley Stream,” Fare said.
The ceremony prompted memories from other attendees as well. Lifelong residents recalled walking to the mall as teenagers on Saturdays, browsing records at Sam Goody and grabbing burgers at a restaurant called Lenny’s. Others remembered working at their first jobs there.
David Sabatino, who was born and raised in Valley Stream, said those memories run deep for residents. “Coming to the mall is always a special, special thing,” he said.
Green Acres is also a gathering place for community groups. Among them is Meera Empowerment, an Elmont-based youth nonprofit founded by Selene Ferdinand. This summer, the organization teamed with the mall for a back-to-school drive there, at which volunteers and elected officials handed out supplies to local children and families.
The anniversary comes as Green Acres, owned by real estate investment trust Macerich, undergoes a 400,000-square-foot redevelopment. The project will add an 80,000-square-foot ShopRite, outward-facing storefronts, outdoor green space, expanded dining areas and a new entrance to the northeast wing. A Cheesecake Factory is set to open Dec. 15.
Green Acres and the neighboring Green Acres Commons currently host more than 160 retailers and
restaurants.
