Ready, Set, Shop! The Mall At Bay Plaza Opens In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Get your wallets ready!
New York City's first enclosed mall in 40 years is officially open for business.
The Mall At Bay Plaza Opens To The Public
The Mall at Bay Plaza in the Baychester section of the Bronx is 780,000-square-feet with more than 100 stores and restaurants, as well as a fitness center and movie theater. Retailers including Macy's, JCPenney, H&M, Ulta, Forever 21 and Michael Kors.
Doors opened to the public at 10 a.m. Thursday following a ribbon cutting. It took two years and $300 million to build the three-story mall, 1010 WINS reported.
"When you have corporations like Macy's willing to invest in our borough it sends a clariant call that something good is happening in our borough," said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
"We want people from Westchester we want people in the same way that we went to Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens to go shop," Diaz added. "We want those residents to come here and experience what we call the new Bronx."
The retail space is the first indoor mall in the Bronx, 1010 WINS' Roger Stern reported.
"It's just great to have something within walking distance and you can get everything you need," shopper Claire Howell told CBS 2's Don Champion.
"I don't have to travel to Yonkers, I don't have to travel to the city and I keep it in my hometown," said one shopper.
"We can stay in our home borough and shop," another shopper said.
Mall managers hope high-end retailers like Michael Kors will help attract Westchester customers.
Anchored by a Macy's and JC Penney, the mall has more than a hundred stores.
The opening marks the first time some popular retailers like H&M have even done business in the Bronx, Champion reported.
"They've been deprived from quality shopping for years and now it's time for them to come and shop in a quality place and they don't have to travel to Manhattan," said Sam Shalem, CEO and Chairman of Prestige Properties.
And although the goal is to attract shoppers from Westchester, shoppers from the Bronx were the majority at the opening, Champion reported.
"I work in Manhattan so to be able to have what's in Manhattan so close to home is a lot more convenient," said shopper Mikki Melendez.
More than 1,700 permanent jobs were created by the mall in the county that leads the state in unemployment.
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