‘American Dream’ Mega Mall Opens in NJ

By COLlive reporter

American Dream in Meadowlands, NJ, a shopping mall and entertainment complex under development for decades, opened its doors for the first time on Friday.

The mall, built by the company Triple Five led by the Ghermezian family, is the second largest mall in the country, and third largest in North America.

It will showcase 3 million square feet of leasable space dedicated to more than a dozen entertainment attractions like a 16-story indoor ski slope, rollercoaster, waterpark and eventually 450 retail, food and specialty shops, the Associated Press reported.

The plans include 3 Kosher restaurants to be announced, a source told COLlive.

On Friday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and his wife Tammy, Congressman Bill Pascrell and other VIP guests gathered for the grand opening. Also in attendance were Chabad Shliach Rabbi Levi Shemtov of Riverdale, NY and businessman Moshe Frank of Crown Heights.

Don Ghermezian, CEO of American Dream and president of Triple Five, said that when taking over the site, he realized what was going to happen in retailing and knew he needed to make an even bigger statement with American Dream.

“Everybody talks about the future of retail and the future of entertainment, and how you merge the two,” Ghermezian, said during a brief press event. “But there really isn’t a center on the planet that has done it to the degree that we’ve done in here.”

Guests enjoyed the two major entertainment attractions that were open, an ice-skating rink and the Nickelodeon Theme Park. The complex will unveil the rest of the attractions like the ski slope and waterpark by the end of the year; stores and restaurants will open in March.