In 1995 the Taubman Centers announced a plan to redevelop a defunct copper wire factory site in Syosset, just off the Long Island Expressway, into a high-end mall. Twelve years of grueling legal battles later, Taubman has spent $100 million, won most of the rounds in court, and signed up Neiman Marcus and other elite retailers, yet an end is nowhere in sight. And it happens that the civic coalition that has been so successful at running up Taubman’s costs has gotten some help from Simon Property Group, the large mall developer that currently dominates the local market and doesn’t welcome competition. On TimesDelete, unfortunately (Peter Applebome, “A Mall Plan, a Call to Arms, a Plot of Land Still Empty”, New York Times, May 13). Earlier coverage, not behind screen: Dawn Wotapka Hardesty, “For Taubman, no choice but to fight”, Long Island Business News, Dec. 29.
How to spend $100 million not building a mall
In 1995 the Taubman Centers announced a plan to redevelop a defunct copper wire factory site in Syosset, just off the Long Island Expressway, into a high-end mall. Twelve years of grueling legal battles later, Taubman has spent $100 million, won most of the rounds in court, and signed up Neiman Marcus and other elite […]
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People on Long Island moan and groan about property taxes. Wouldn’t a high end mall be a ratable? And wouldn’t it generate gobs of sales taxes?
The man in the dumpster is bright when compared to those on Long Island.
Locals may have standing to sue the radical, obstructionist extremists. The latter intentionally interfered with the God given, Natural Law, human right of the rich to have a Nieman-Marcus. If the plaintiffs can get a jury trial, expect exemplary damages against the obstructionists, to deter shameful malfeasance.