NORTH SHORE SHOPPING MART, one of the first post-war, suburban-style shopping centers in Greater New York City, was completed in May 1951. Located in Long Island's Town of North Hempstead, it was a small strip center of around 216,500 leasable square feet.
Sol G. Atlas, developer of the SHOPPING MART, also built the region's -and state's- first mall-type venue. CROSS COUNTY CENTER was located in the Westchester County suburb of Yonkers (not on Long Island) and was dedicated in April 1954. By late 1958, the complex, which incorporated retail, office and medical components, encompassed over 906,000 leasable square feet.
The NORTH SHORE SHOPPING MART and CROSS COUNTY complexes were followed by five shopping malls built on "The Island." Original names are used...
*ROOSEVELT FIELD CENTER [August 1956]
*GREEN ACRES CENTER, [October 1956]
*MID-ISLAND SHOPPING PLAZA, [October 1956]
*WALT WHITMAN CENTER [November 1962]
*SOUTH SHORE MALL [August 1963]
A map showing locations of post-war shopping hubs in Westchester County and in the Long Island counties of Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk.
-Click on image for a larger view-
The first controlled-access highway in Greater New York City was a 4.6 mile section of the Brooklyn-Queens Connecting Roadway (later known as Brooklyn-Queens Expressway). This thoroughfare extended between Queens Boulevard (in Sunnyside, Queens) and Kingsland and Meeker Avenues (in Greenpoint, Brooklyn). It opened to traffic in August 1939.
In addition to being New York City and State's first shopping mall, CROSS COUNTY CENTER was also the first "freeway friendly" mall in Greater New York City. A section of the New York State Thruway, running along the west side of the shopping hub, opened to traffic in September 1956.
