Vacancies Remain in East Meadow Mall

Certain spaces come straight to mind when thinking of vacant storefronts in the East Meadow community. The old space is one of them.

Formerly located at 1959 Front St. in the shopping center known as the East Meadow Mall, which also houses and , the business was in April after filing for bankruptcy. Additionally, five other spaces in that center are currently vacant.

Steve Appas, director of real estate for Serota Properties, the company that owns the East Meadow Mall, said that his company is trying to get other tenants to move into stores in the center.

“At the moment there is nothing that I could tell as far as what is going on there,” he said. “The economy the way it is, we are plugging along trying to get tenants in there.”

Legis. Norma Gonsalves, R-East Meadow, said that the East Meadow Mall has “always been a viable shopping center,” but added that it is going to be difficult to fill the stores because there are so many spaces vacant.

“Right now I am exploring the possibility of rejuvenating the downtown of East Meadow,” she said. “We need explore the possibility of developing a partnership with the town and county to provide incentives to small businesses.”

Gonsalves said that she has a meeting with County Executive Edward Mangano this week to discuss ideas to rejuvenate and get stores occupied in the East Meadow Avenue area, including the East Meadow Mall.

Many residents believe that with some improvements, the East Meadow Mall could draw desirable businesses for local residents to enjoy.

Amanda Blatt, an East Meadow native, said that she thinks the shopping center has “potential” despite the current number of vacant stores. If it was “cleaned up or remodeled it a bit that would make a difference," she said.

East Meadow resident Jamie Michelman, 23, said that the shopping mall “has been pretty run down."

“I think it was good when it had Blockbuster,” she continued. “Otherwise, I feel like they really aren’t utilizing the space that well. It’s not a place that I would ever want to go and hang out. It would be nice, especially since it is right off East Meadow Avenue, if there was somewhere where people could congregate or a local hang out.”

Michelman said that she thinks if the shopping center was cleaned up and the area was revitalized it was have more appeal to potential business owners - even during the tough economic times. A locally owned business “with a little variety” would be a preferable addition to the area, she added.

In regards to vacant stores as a whole in the area, Gonsalves said, “there is no one answer.”

“We have a lot to work on here,” she continued. “… Hopefully we can revitalize the businesses in the community."

“The fact that there are empty stores means the bad economy has hit home,” Blatt added.