Queens Center; New York, New York
Queens Center is a large suburban-style mall anchored by Macys and JCPenney in a very urban location, New York City. Located in the Elmhurst section of the borough of Queens, Queens Center is accessible by multi-modal forms of transportation: Subway, Bus, Car, foot, horse, turtle, whatever; it all converges at this mall. Despite its name, the mall is not located in the geographic center of the Borough of Queens and actually about 4 miles to the northwest. Queens Center is, however, located at one of the busiest intersections in the borough, Queens Boulevard and Woodhaven Boulevard, adjacent to the LIE (I-495) which is one of the main arteries carrying traffic from Midtown Manhattan out onto the vast expanse of suburban Long Island.
Queens Center is unique in that it is only one of a handful of large shopping malls within New York City, which has a population of 8 million. And in fact, it is the only large enclosed mall within the borough of Queens, with a population of 2.2 million. As such, the mall is often crowded and numerous sources cite Queens Center as having the highest profit per square foot in the United States for an enclosed mall. This is largely due to the fact that the millions of residents surrounding the mall would rather shop locally than either make the tedious journey into Manhattan or drive to the large suburban malls farther out on Long Island in the suburbs.
In 2002, Queens Center was about 25 years old. Not only did Queens Center look a bit worse for wear, it was definitely in need of expansion. So Macerich, the owner, embarked on a $275 expansion and renovation project which lasted over two years, changing the mall dramatically. The old small, dirty food court was removed from its circular area upstairs to new basement digs. A skybridge over 92nd Street connects the new part of the mall with the older, and glass atriums throughout provide ample light, a stark contrast to the dimly lit space of before. Also, the mall was repainted with brighter colors, light beiges and pastels, to further modernize and brighten the place up a bit. Gone too are interesting escalators which went down from the mall and literally into the middle of JCPenney a floor below, and all of the courts which were circular were squared off. But, with the expanded space and brighter look, I think Queens Center is wholly better. The mix of stores and restaurants has also been upscaled, with trendy features like California Pizza Kitchen and others. I think flashing girl from Flushing, the Nanny named Fran, would definitely shop here post-renovation. If only she hadn’t moved into the city…
We visited Queens Center twice, once in 2001 before renovation and once in 2007. Feel free to leave comments and enjoy the photo sets.
2001:
2007:
SEAN
July 27th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
THE MALL OPENED IN 1974 UNDER TAUBMAN OWNERSHIP. TAUBMAN OFTEN LEVERAGE ONE MALL AGAINST ANOTHER. AS A RESOLT SOME MALLS WERE FORSED TO BE SOLD TO PAY DEBTS ON OTHERS.
I VISITED QC IN JUNE & ALL I CAN SAY IS HOLY **** . PEOPLE WERE EVERYWARE.
MY ONLY GRIPE IS THE FOOD COURT & THE WAY YOU HAVE TO GET THERE FROM THE MAIN ENTRENCE, UP THAN DOWN BY JC PENNY, IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY WITH CROWDS. IFYOU GO AT TIPICAL MEAL TIME FORGET ABOUT FINDING A SEAT, THEY’RE ALL TAKEN BY THE TIME YOU SHOW UP. GO TO CPK OR APPLEBEES INSTEAD
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Rich
July 27th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Doesn’t the Macy’s predate the mall, going back to the mid-60s? or is that in a different section of Queens?
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Paul
July 28th, 2007 at 12:41 am
Macy’s actually opened a free-standing store on Queens Blvd in Fall 1965, in the round building, just east of Queens Center.
When Queens Center opened in 1973 the anchors were a branch of Brooklyn’s Abraham & Straus and Ohrbach’s. Ohrbach’s became Steinbach in 1987, and JC Penney in 1990. That building was demolished in the recent expansion and a new Penney’s was built.
When Federated bought Macy’s and decided to discontinue the venerable A&S division, they opted to move Macy’s into the larger A&S space in 1995, and close their store-in-the-round. Actually, the furniture department has reopened in the old building, which was subdivided into Target, Outback, and other retailers. BTW, even though the building was round (except for a small ‘notch’ necessitated by one land owner’s refusal to sell to Macy’s), the store itself was conventionally rectangular. A parking garage with rounded exterior walls surrounds the store .
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mallguy
July 28th, 2007 at 1:00 am
Although I have never been to Queens Center, I have seen it covered on the news as one of the malls they visit on Black Friday or Chistmas Eve (Garden State Plaza, Newport Centre and Roosevelt Field are the other ones from when they tend to report). The expansion project looks impressive and it seems to have improved the mall significantly.
When it comes to mainstream malls in New York City, there really aren’t very many…along with Queens Center, just Kings Plaza (Brooklyn), the Staten Island Mall (which is really more suburban in nature…and is supposedly planning another expansion) and the Manhattan Mall (which has really fallen from grace since its days as A&S Plaza) make up mainstream malls in NYC (while Time Warner Center Mall seems successful, it mainly caters to an upscale cleintele). Of the NYC mainstream malls, Queens Center has the best location and therefore, will continue to be prosperous.
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J-Man
July 28th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
I believe Fran was the FLASHY girl from Flushing … I don’t think she was going around in a trenchcoat exposing herself!
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SEAN
July 28th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
GETTING TO QUEENS CENTER IS EASY: FROM TIMES SQUARE TAKE AN “R” TRAIN TO WOODHAVEN BLVD.
SIGN ON THE TRAIN WILL READ “FOREST HILLS 71ST CONENENTAL
I DON’T RECCOMEND DRIVING , TO MUCH TRAFFIC. IF YOU MUST TAKE L I E TO WOODHAVEN BLVD/ QUEENS BLVD EXIT. CROSS QUEENS BLVD AND FALLOW TO PARKING GARAGE ENTRENCE NEAR 92ND STREET
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Service Merchandise (Jonah N)
July 28th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Odd….I was under the impression that basement food courts were passe.
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SEAN
July 31st, 2007 at 10:41 am
AS FAR AS FOOD COURTS GO YOU DON’T SEE THEM IN BASEMENTS THAT MUCH ANY MORE AS THE LAST POSTER POINTED OUT, BUT YOU WILL FIND THEM IN THE BASEMENT OF MANHATTAN MALL & GARDEN STATE PLAZA.
INFACT THE LOWER LEVEL OF GSP WAS THE DELIVERY TUNNELS THAT WERE REDEVELOPED INTO RETAIL SPACE & THE ALREADY MENOND FOOD COURT. I DON’T HOW MANY OTHER MALLS WERE LIKE THAT ,BUT I AM SURE YOU WILL FIND THEM.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!
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Bobby
July 31st, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Sean, could you please not type in all capitals? Thank you.
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SEAN
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:20 am
Sorry bobby just a sticky capslock button. i’ll fix that
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Jonah Norason
August 7th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
That line going through the mall near the JCPenney wing…is that a subway line? Awesome!
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SEAN
August 24th, 2007 at 10:32 am
The subway stop is under queens blvd beyond the entrence to the mall. To reach the subway go out the front doors on to queens blvd & turn left, walk 1 block by crossing Woodhaven blvd, the stairs are just past mcdonolds
BE CAREFUL WHEN CROSSING WOODHAVEN BLVD , CARS TEND TO SPEED. If you must cross queens blvd use subway stairs to go down & back up. For those who don’t know queens blvd is extreamly dangerous to cross.
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Jonah Norason
August 25th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
I prefer the 2001 mall. A moody food court with lots of neon, the long JCPenney escalator, and mirrored ceilings. Still, the 2007 mall does seem better and uniformed.
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forest hills shopper
September 6th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Check out The Shops at Atlas Park – much more interesting and innovative approach – great tenants, although the center isn’t yet full. http://www.theshopsatatlaspark.com
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SEAN Reply:
June 7th, 2009 at 11:22 am
@forest hills shopper,
I visited Atlas Park on Saturday & was not impressed. There were few shoppers & acordding to the information office the number of vacancies were growing, six since christmas.
The center is not as close to highways as the map would have you believe. the area is about a half mile south of Woodhaven & Queens Boulevards in a neighborhood of mid-century garden apartment complexes. You will find plenty of local shopping along the way on 80th Street. Queens Center on the other hand was totally crazy durring & after lunch. QC semes to be really holding it’s own. I guess location has a lot to do with that, especially with the subway stop a block away & continuous bus service from all over Queens, I’de imagine that would be the case.
A word of caution Atlas Park is dog friendly & people at times DON’T follow rules on how to control there pets. If you don’t like dogs around when you shop, this is not the place for you.
Outside of Regal Cinemas, CPK, Borders, Cold Water Creek, Chilli’s Grill &Bar there very few national retailers there, making it hard to make any statements reguarding success or failure at this point.
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newtowner
October 31st, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I used to go to Newtown High School right behind the mall in the late 90s and that was the hang out spot and workplace for many newtowners. I love the current renovations but the previous food court was better located.. It is kind of hard to get to the new one.
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Jeff
December 19th, 2007 at 1:17 am
I grew up a few blocks behind the mall and watched it being built. The site of the original (pre-expansion) mall had been occupied by a Food Parade supermarket (formerly Billy Blake’s) and a small amusement park called Fairyland, along with a gas station or two. The first anchors were, indeed, Ohrbach and A&S. I opened my first bank account at Emigrant Savings Bank in the mall.
The circular atrium was what made the place unique, although I recall feeling somewhat claustrophobic. I have not been in the place since long before the expansion, but the area across 92nd street on which the addition was built used to be a huge commuter parking lot, for the Woodhaven Blvd. subway station. I wonder where those people park now?
By the way, one of the photos you have posted — the lower left corner under 2007 — does not show the mall, but the white office building across the street, also fronting on Queens Blvd., which predates the mall by at least 10 years.
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Rego Parker
August 25th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
I remember growing up as a kid is Queens Center Mall. When it was a real mall. When there were fountains at the bottom and there were 2 types of people hanging out back then. Guidos and Metalheads. There was this store upstairs called FanFan it was ridiculous. They sold weird lamps incense and spiked bracelets, heavy metal posters and back patches. The best. And you could get an Orange Julius, and there was a David’s cookies…what else?o yeah a Musicland…I dont know i barely bought anything there i just hung out. It was a great place back then, Its garbage now.
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Bill
September 21st, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Pre-2007 its so monolithic. Reminds me of the Bullring.
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Steve
March 24th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Wasnt there an amusement park on the queens center site before it opened. I also remember that they initially had to build around a house of a person that would not sell.
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Scott Lifshine
November 18th, 2009 at 2:31 am
I have films of the house, could be a world exclusive. I shot the house in the early 1970s.
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