Opinion
During this past Monday’s Township Council meeting, a resolution was passed designating the Livingston Mall as a condemnation area in need of redevelopment. Anyone who has been to the mall in recent years, but particularly in 2024, will tell you that this has been a long time coming.
The photos shown here are from Livingston resident Laura Foley, who went to the mall a few weeks ago and said she was “emotionally affected” by its near-vacant sight.
“The sheer emptiness of the once vibrant atmosphere left me feeling sad,” she said in a note to the Tribune. “I remember going to Bamberger’s, the first store to open, with my friend Julie. We were ten or 11 years old. We spent what felt like the entire day in the only store open. We had lunch in the restaurant. Went to all the departments.”
So many of us have fond memories of time spent at the Livingston Mall, but those memories are long gone. In their place are vacant spaces, shuttered stores, and neglect. In the Tribune, the only time the mall has made headlines since the former Sears location was a COVID vaccination site is for the near weekly reports of shoplifting from the few stores remaining on the property. People are, understandably, upset about what has become of their community mall as it has changed hands through the years. Its deterioration has been a gradual process that accelerated over the past five years, and has gotten much worse in recent months. Last week, the power was temporarily shut off at the mall due to nonpayment to JCP&L, according to township manager Barry Lewis, who noted that the town shares in the residents’ frustrations with what has become of the property. The town also continues to fine the mall’s owners for code violations, and the property will move to tax sale on October 30 due to delinquent payment of taxes. Malls in general are not what they once were to society, but even by those standards, it is a shame what has happened to this once thriving space in our community. Basic amenities such as functional escalators and HVAC systems are no guarantee on a given day. To wit, air conditioning was not working properly during this summer’s heat wave, despite it being listed by Essex County as a designated cooling center (it was far from cool, as some unfortunate people hoping to beat the heat found out). What will become of our once beloved mall, one of the largest taxpayers in town, has long been a topic of conversation among both township officials and of residents. Just a few years ago, we had hoped to see it revitalized as other local malls have been. New restaurants, anchor stores, and event spaces might be all that was needed to get it back up to a functional condition. But that never happened and the moment to do so has long passed; it has been clear for a while that it is simply a matter of time before the doors close once and for all. After forming a township committee to discuss the mall’s fate, as well as officials reaching an agreement to build housing on the property to satisfy the next round of affordable housing obligations, we knew that changes would be coming. The time to act has been long overdue, and we are pleased to see a formal step in that direction.
When the Council met with the Business Improvement District during Monday’s meeting, members suggested that director Beth Lippman should convince businesses at the mall to move to other Livingston locations. We agree that this is a good idea; that mall will not be around much longer, and we should find homes for the remaining businesses within it elsewhere in town. There are certainly vacant retail spaces available for them to set up shop and remain local.
We will miss the Livingston Mall when it inevitably closes for good, but what stands there now is a shadow of what it once was; in many ways, the mall is already gone. Better for everyone to get the process started of moving on and making better use of such an important community asset.
