Roosevelt Field Mall Reopens Today

GARDEN CITY, NY — Roosevelt Field Mall, one of the largest shopping centers in America, is reopening today after being closed for nearly four months. Simon Properties, the company that owns the mall, is also reopening its other Long Island properties: Smith Haven Mall and Walt Whitman Shops.

Simon Properties says it has developed a COVID-19 Exposure Control Policy that it says will keep shoppers safe, along with strict guidelines that all of the tenant stores in the malls need to follow.

"The health, safety and well-being of those we serve will always be our highest priority, and we have developed a thorough and detailed set of protocols highlighting the exceptional measures we’ve implemented to safeguard shoppers, retailers and employees as we reopen,” said John Rulli, president of Simon. “We also recognize that individuals and families in our communities are suffering significant hardship as a result of both COVID-19 and the economic shutdown, and we believe that reopening our properties will not only help people get back to work during these challenging times, but also enable us to use our properties to further support charitable initiatives."

Simon closed all of its Long Island properties on March 19 as the pandemic was gaining speed in New York.

Malls were originally part of New York's phase four of reopening, which Long Island entered on Wednesday. But before phase four began, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that malls would no longer be included. Many people fought to have malls reopened, including Nassau County Executive Laura Curran. The decision was recently made that malls could reopen starting today, providing they install HVAC filters that can remove the coronavirus from the air.

Simon Properties says it has taken the following measures in order to keep shoppers safe:

• Enhanced sanitation and disinfecting using the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) approved products, with an emphasis on high-traffic locations such as dining areas, restrooms, escalators, stairs, directories, trash bins and door knobs.
• Shopper safeguards that include making available protective masks, sanitizing wipes and temperature testing at entrances or property offices, as well as the encouragement of pre-visit health screenings to ensure shoppers stay home if they have exhibited COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms within 72 hours.
• Hand sanitizing stations will be deployed throughout the properties.
• Signage promoting CDC guidelines for maintaining personal hygiene will be prominently displayed throughout the properties.
• Pre-emptive employee health screening to ensure that employees do not arrive at work within 72 hours of exhibiting COVID-19 or flu-like symptoms.
• Employee safety protections including implementing the CDC’s COVID-19 frequent hand-washing protocols, and offering personal protective equipment in addition to other CDC recommended practices.
• Promotion and enforcement of social distancing practices, including occupancy limitations, furniture and restroom spacing, closure of play areas and strollers, as well as coordinated traffic flow with traffic signage and distance markers.

According to Simon, it's Long Island malls provide more than 9,800 jobs and contributing $148.3 million in sales tax and $50.2 million in property tax revenue to the state.