Walt Whitman Mall

infobox shopping mall
shopping_mall_name = Walt Whitman Mall

---

caption =
location = Huntington Station, New York, USA
opening_date =
construction =
developer =
manager =
owner = Simon Property Group
number_of_stores = 88
number_of_anchors = 4
floor_area =
floors = 1
website = [http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=106 Simon Malls]
parking = 5043 spaces

Walt Whitman Mall is a shopping mall located in Huntington Station, NY on Walt Whitman Rd (Rt 110) and Jericho Turnpike (Rt 25). It has many stores including main anchors Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor, Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue. It also has restaurants such as Legal Sea Foods, California Pizza Kitchen and Panera Bread although it does not operate a food court. The Cheesecake Factory has recently opened. The mall is owned and managed by Melvin Simon and Associates, one of the largest developers of shopping malls in the United States and owner of Long Island's largest mall, Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City. Suffolk County Transit, MTA Long Island Bus and Huntington Area Rapid Transit all have bus routes that service the mall.

Walt Whitman Mall is the first enclosed mall located on Long Island. [ [http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-bmall4,0,5830765.photo?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation Walt Whitman Mall - Newsday.com ] ]

The mall is named for the poet Walt Whitman due to the close proximity to his [http://www.waltwhitman.org birthplace] , a National Historic site located just down the road from the mall on Walt Whitman Road (Rt 110). Quotations from Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" are engraved in the exterior facade of the mall.

Anchors

*Bloomingdale's (220,000 sq. ft.)
*Lord & Taylor (120,000 sq. ft.)
*Macy's (302,278 sq. ft.)
*Saks Fifth Avenue (100,000 sq. ft.)

Previous Anchors

*Abraham & Straus, A&S was located in the store which is currently occupied by Macy's. Macy's moved from its former location, which then was remodeled, and became Bloomingdales.
*McCrory Stores, It was here that a fire was started in May of 1991 which burned through the middle section of the mall. [ [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/102616292.html?dids=102616292:102616292&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=May+17%2C+1991&author=By+Phil+Mintz.+STAFF+WRITER.+Bill+Mason%2C+Kinsey&pub=Newsday&edition=&startpage=07&desc=2+Killed+in+Mall+Fire Newsday Abstract - 2 Killed in Mall Fire] ]

Fires

1984: The fire destroyed seven stores and damaged 25 others in the 106-store mall. [ [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0915FD3D5C0C708EDDA80994DC484D81 NY Times Abstract - L.I. Mall Still Assessing Fire Losses] ]

1991: In 1993 a McCrory's worker plead guilty to tossing a lit cigarette into a display of silk flowers set on a block of Styrofoam, killing two of his coworkers aged 20 and 27. [ [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/newsday/access/102823932.html?dids=102823932:102823932&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Feb+3%2C+1993&author=By+Elizabeth+Wasserman.+STAFF+WRITER&pub=Newsday&edition=&startpage=25&desc=Guilty+Plea+in+Deadly+Mall+Fire+Ex-guard+set+blaze+at+McCrory%27s Newsday Abstract - Guilty Plea in Deadly Mall Fire Ex-guard set blaze at McCrory's] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=106 Walt Whitman Mall]
* [http://www.labelscar.com/new-york/walt-whitman-mall Labelscar Retail History Blog]