OT: American Dream

[RUaMoose_rivals]

Well who didn't see this coming? No one except nj.com who were obviously getting paid to shill for the place. There's also an article on nj.com that I linked below where it states they've missed their last three mortgage payments.

This last sentence sums it up:

“This is something that should have never been approved and they just kept pushing forward on it.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanve...re-coronavirus-now-theyre-worse/#732e84b73e40

Missed mortgage payments:

https://www.nj.com/news/2020/06/ame...er-mortgage-payment-lays-off-100-workers.html

 

[DJ Spanky]

Shocker.

 

[ScarletKid2008]

Has to be one of the most egregious unnecessary projects ever approved. And then a complete utter disaster in historic proportions for executing it once it was approved.

I went in it back in Feb. And to be honest its more of an entertainment center than a mall.

But it should have never been approved. Between the traffic that is already on Rt 3 daily. And the density of malls already in that area of North NJ. It just was a political backdoor type of thing because it never stood to better anyone's lives who live in the area. But meanwhile received enormous tax breaks.

 

[RUBOB72]

And they want to know why New Jersey is so F’d up. A lot of political pockets were filled up during this long shameful scam.

 

[tico brown]

NJ. Com will blame Rutgers for this, saying they had to pay Schiano that contract instead of putting it into this lost cause "for the good of the state."

 

[DJ Spanky]

Zoffinger's Folly has been a huge drain on the state and the area, and was built during a time period while malls were closing down. Which made no sense whatsoever.

 

[ClassOf02v.2]

Pretty sure I know who received a lot of the contracts for that place...

 

[Jtung230]

To be fair, they were forced to close. They are not the only mall owner that’s missing mortgage payments. I’m not saying the mall is a good idea but no one saw this coming.

 

[hankee18]

American Dream is something we all should protest. What a disgrace

 

[newell138]

What has the state spent on this place and Revel combined? And we wonder why our taxes are so high

 

[DJ Spanky]

To be fair, they were forced to close. They are not the only mall owner that’s missing mortgage payments. I’m not saying the mall is a good idea but no one saw this coming.

Yes, nobody saw the pandemic coming, but many people for the past decade have seen that the purchasing model has been shifting more and more to online sales to the detriment of brick and mortar retailers.

 

[Jtung230]

Yes, nobody saw the pandemic coming, but many people for the past decade have seen that the purchasing model has been shifting more and more to online sales to the detriment of brick and mortar retailers.

yes, but brick and mortar still dominate retail sales. Many malls will close but the A malls would have been fine pre Covid19.

 

[RUaMoose_rivals]

To be fair, they were forced to close. They are not the only mall owner that’s missing mortgage payments. I’m not saying the mall is a good idea but no one saw this coming.

Did you read the Forbes article I linked? They were having problems before CV-19. But I’m sure they’ll use it as THE reason

 

[Section124]

American Dream was not built to be a mall. Yes it will have stores. It was built for entertainment and corporate buildings. Ski slope, water park, ice rink, amusement park. The stores were just the secondary way to get you there.

I get it we all want to blame Zoff (and rightfully so), but there are so many wrong posts in this thread. In fact my company was supposed to be the first corporate client there. We gave up when it took forever to start and moved to Jersey City waterfront instead. That was the best decision ever.

 

[Knight Shift]

Clicked the thread, hoping it was about the real American Dream:

 

[mdk02]

At some point there were enough sunk costs that it took on a life of it's own.

 

[cubuffsdoug_rivals]

American Dream was not built to be a mall. Yes it will have stores. It was built for entertainment and corporate buildings. Ski slope, water park, ice rink, amusement park. The stores were just the secondary way to get you there.

I get it we all want to blame Zoff (and rightfully so), but there are so many wrong posts in this thread. In fact my company was supposed to be the first corporate client there. We gave up when it took forever to start and moved to Jersey City waterfront instead. That was the best decision ever.

It doesn't matter if it wasn't meant to be a mall. It wasn't money well spent. Billions of public money spent on a project that has been plagued with problems from the start. if that wasn't enough of a sign that project was in trouble, politicians kept giving tax breaks to the bottomless pit of a problem. I wonder who will be stuck with the problem at the end of the day... the State. Better yet the people of NJ.

 

[T2Kplus10]

Shocker.

Good news for the area. Yet sadly, it will be an epic eyesore for decades to come.

 

[RUforlife]

The roaches and rats must be having a field day having the whole facility to themselves, sure hope they are taking advantage of the water park.

 

[ScarletDave]

To be fair about online shopping, when Xanadu was first planned did Amazon even exist ? Rather, did the internet even exist?

 

[mdk02]

To be fair about online shopping, when Xanadu was first planned did Amazon even exist ? Rather, did the internet even exist?

Internet definately. Amazon, books only I believe. Not positive.

 

[BoogieKnight]

But, but, but...Rutgers football is the REAL drain on the NJ economy! That’s what we were told during the stadium expansion. Meanwhile...

American Dream is unnecessary and is a bust.
Met Life Stadium, also unnecessary, sucks.
Rutgers Stadium expansion, on the other hand, was a major piece which helped lead to the state flagship university being invited into the Big Ten conference.

 

[Jtung230]

Did you read the Forbes article I linked? They were having problems before CV-19. But I’m sure they’ll use it as THE reason

I did read the article. All malls have problems but it wasn’t in trouble.

 

[fsg2_rivals]

Anyone do the indoor skiing yet?

Better or worse than Mountain Creek?

 

[ArminRU]

They could have used that money to build a beautiful park, make countless improvements to schools, feed the homeless, invest in urban communities. The list goes on and on and it actually makes you sick.

 

[mikershoein]

I saw the title and thought it was about an “American dream”. Mine of course is to win the lottery, Cut 50% of the winnings to the misses and kids, and head to south beach for some hookers and blow... that’s my American dream, I could care less about a crappy mall.

 

[RUBOB72]

What has the state spent on this place and Revel combined? And we wonder why our taxes are so high

tom1944 knows why New Jersey doesn’t have a pot to piss in... going to get interesting next year... you will see even more people leave NJ and Metro NY...

 

[fsg2_rivals]

tom1944 knows why New Jersey doesn’t have a pot to piss in... going to get interesting next year... you will see even more people leave NJ and Metro NY...

Maybe, but that's really one of those trite things people say every year. If people move from Metro NY because of pandemic and plan to keep the same jobs, they're likely to move to NJ. That's the way it's been going so far.

 

[tico brown]

American Dream was not built to be a mall. Yes it will have stores. It was built for entertainment and corporate buildings. Ski slope, water park, ice rink, amusement park. The stores were just the secondary way to get you there.
IS IT TRUE THAT IT IS $30 TO PARK THERE? IF ITS TRUE, THEY CAN KISS MY ***.

I get it we all want to blame Zoff (and rightfully so), but there are so many wrong posts in this thread. In fact my company was supposed to be the first corporate client there. We gave up when it took forever to start and moved to Jersey City waterfront instead. That was the best decision ever.
STATE SPENT BILLIONS THERE TO KEEP THAT PLACE ALIVE WHEN IT COULDVE BEEN USED FOR MORE IMPORTANT THINGS. BUT THIS IS NEW JERSEY SO IT WOULDVE SIMPLY WENT TO OTHER BS POLITICAL PROJECTS.

 

[Salvi's Headband]

Bigger boondoggle this or Revel?

 

[RUschool]

How much is NJ portion of the $5 billion cost?

It seems that several governors justified continuing the construction with the thousands of construction jobs being created and jobs after the completion. This might called a government job program.

We’re spending $5 trillion on trying to revive the economy right now and no one is complaining. At least half the $5 trillion is wasted.

 

[GilliganIsland]

I saw the title and thought it was about an “American dream”. Mine of course is to win the lottery, Cut 50% of the winnings to the misses and kids, and head to south beach for some hookers and blow... that’s my American dream, I could care less about a crappy mall.

Dont forget taxes

 

[RUBOB72]

Maybe, but that's really one of those trite things people say every year. If people move from Metro NY because of pandemic and plan to keep the same jobs, they're likely to move to NJ. That's the way it's been going so far.

You do realize how many have already left those 2 states over these past several years? And those were in the thousands . Retirees leave for a reason . Now we will see more companies , and more average citizens leave the area and not to NJ. my friend. The loss of jobs, much higher taxes still , an increase in violent crimes in our inner cities but now larger groups are going to be moving out . That allows the rest of us to weather the storm and pay increased taxes. New Jersey is not in good financial shape and I don’t blame Murphy for that debacle. It has been a case of mismanagement , open coffers for state projects , which failed or were never completed and let us not forget ramped cronyism of which has been a staple of NJ politics since the 1960’s. ..New Jersey : the land of the sheep and home to the shepherds who tend the flock.

 

[DJ Spanky]

To be fair about online shopping, when Xanadu was first planned did Amazon even exist ? Rather, did the internet even exist?

Amazon was started in 1994. By 1999 they were selling many other items online outside of books. In 2002 they started AWS, and in the early 2000's they started letting other vendors use their marketplace to sell their products. So the writing on the wall was already there before Xanadu got going.

 

[RUBOB72]

Zoffinger's Folly has been a huge drain on the state and the area, and was built during a time period while malls were closing down. Which made no sense whatsoever.

Well , primarily you acquire money from state funding, kickbacks , additional loans from state ( NJ) under the guise this will solve the issues which were overlooked before. We created jobs for specific “ political “ posts. Those who would oversee and direct the Meadows project. New Jersey , NY, Illinois , California are are as corrupt as they come. If you think otherwise NEVER complain about the under funding of pensions, road repairs and improvements in the public sector...don’t blather about it’s the Fed’s fault... it’s a Jersey Thing...” I see trees of green, red roses too, I watch them bloom for me and you and I think to myself what a Wonderful World.”

 

[barynelson]

You guys need to do your research before acting like Mr Know It All, American Dream Mall did not miss their mortgage payment, it is Mall of America which is own by the same family

 

[RUschool]

You guys need to do your research before acting like Mr Know It All, American Dream Mall did not miss their mortgage payment, it is Mall of America which is own by the same family

They have a reading comprehension problem.

The developers put 49% of Mall of America and another 49% of a mall in Canada as collateral for the American Dream Mall. Maybe, any default wouldn’t hit the state of NJ.

 

[Caliknight]

What has the state spent on this place and Revel combined? And we wonder why our taxes are so high

It’s the ugliest building I’ve ever seen. The comments waking in to the SB from people who had no idea about it were pretty funny. And NJ wonders why it has the reputation it does. Self inflicted.

 

[Jtung230]

tom1944 knows why New Jersey doesn’t have a pot to piss in... going to get interesting next year... you will see even more people leave NJ and Metro NY...

NJ home prices is headed for the biggest price increase since 2005.

 

[NotInRHouse_anon]

They have a reading comprehension problem.

The developers put 49% of Mall of America and another 49% of a mall in Canada as collateral for the American Dream Mall. Maybe, any default wouldn’t hit the state of NJ.

They root for NJ to fail and then wonder why people don't have pride in RU.

The tide is turning against them thankfully.

I think NJ pride is higher and better than ever.