Empire Outlets opening fuels North Shore renaissance (commentary)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – The Empire Outlets mall is open in St. George. Now we have a better idea of what a fully realized North Shore renaissance could look like.

Have there been problems? Sure.

The New York Wheel was supposed to be the iconic centerpiece of the whole area, but that project crumbled.

There have been problems with Empire Outlets too. The opening was delayed. Stores that were supposed to be part of the enterprise are no longer coming. One high-profile tenant, Broome + Greene, terminated its lease on the day of the mall’s gala opening. The mall’s parking lot remained closed on the first day of business.

And even if you walked around the mall after it opened, like I did the other day, you could see that it remains a work in progress. Stores are under construction. Elevators and escalators aren’t operational. You could hear the sound of drilling everywhere.

But lots of stores were open as well. Tourists and others came off the ferry to the mall. People from the neighborhood too. Some people were just looking around, but plenty were also toting full shopping bags around.

The mall will have to keep drawing tourists in order to make a go of it. But there are government and court workers in the neighborhood who are also likely customers. And there are people of means within walking distance or an easy drive who’d probably like to shop closer to home instead of driving to the Staten Island Mall or to Bricktown Centre or to New Jersey. Some South Shore folks might take a spin or two up to the Empire Outlets to see what all the fuss is about.

Because it is about choices. People on Staten Island should have options. We’re a small city of half a million people. We need multiple places to shop.

There have been naysayers about the North Shore renaissance from the beginning. Which is understandable. A lot of things have failed to come to fruition in the past, including the recent past.

And they’ll continue to complain about this or that. They wonder why we need a shopping mall on the North Shore at all, as if a bunch of stores on formerly disused waterfront property is some kind of personal affront to them. Or they’ll complain about the mall lacking this amenity or that, or that the stores aren’t high-end enough. That the shopping experience isn’t everything it’s been cracked up to be.

People, please. It’s a shopping mall. It’s a place to buy things. It’s not supposed to be a transformational personal experience. It’s not going to magically align your chakras.

I’m not rooting for the outlets. But I’m not rooting against them either.

And the mall is just part of the puzzle on the North Shore. The Lighthouse Point project next door to the outlets continues. The Minthorne Street area is going strong, anchored by Flagship Brewery (which celebrates its fifth anniversary this weekend) and Daddy O’s BBQ. Urby is making a go of it further down the East Shore.

And look at what’s to do in St. George now: You can shop. See top talent at the St. George Theatre. Get a great meal at any number of restaurants. See the Staten Island Yankees in action. Go to a bar. You can spend the day in town.

Time will tell about the mall, of course. How crowded will it be when there’s not a DJ and bands and acrobats there to draw the curious in, as there have been this week? How crowded will all that outside space be in the winter or in bad weather? Will people still come when the novelty has worn off? Will people from across the Island come to shop?

But the outlets are open. It’s something that a lot of people smugly predicted would never happen. The renaissance gathers steam. Maybe it’s all for real this time.

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