George Chan

                                                                                                                                    Nov. 16, 2000

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                                                                                            Audience: Speech at the TOB meeting

Evaluation

            I am evaluating the proposed plans to build a Mall in Syosset.  Putting a mall in Syosset is almost like building another White House; it is unnecessary.  Over the past month there has been a lot of debates and protests against building the mall.  The contractors say it will help bring more wealth and prosperity into the town of Syosset, but the other side says it will be a negative addition to the town.  As a concerned resident and a an architecture student, I believe the proposed mall in Syosset is not a good idea, because the residents of Syosset complain that it would add more congestion to the major arteries within Syosset; also it would be a waste of taxpayers’ money, and lets not forget that the proposed mall will take 2-3 years to build, and is placed too close to a residential neighborhood.  Besides those problems the mall will also have a detrimental effect on the beauty of Syosset.

            In as a resident of my town, Syosset, I as well as the rest of the community knows that our town has a major traffic problem.  This problem with traffic makes it unsafe to walk across Jericho Turnpike without the fear of being hit by a crazy driver.  Besides that, there is too much congestion on the roadways, making a 10-minute joy ride into a 30-minute tedious and boring wait.  The disorder and chaos on the streets are terrible enough and now that proposed mall will only going to add to it.  The proposed mall is supposed to be built in an open lot next to the Long Island Expressway and Jericho Turnpike.  This will add more to the congestion and chaos on the already crowded roads.  If you look at the congestion of the roads near the Broadway Mall and the Roosevelt Field Mall, you will understand what I mean.  At these major malls, during the holiday rush and weekends, the roads are clogged with traffic.   These roads are also 8 lane roads and still have problems with traffic.  Now the roads in Syosset are smaller, and the widest road we have is a 4-lane road, and I doubt that road will be able to handle an influx in traffic.

            You may ask why not just enlarge the roads.  Well, to do so will take more time and more money.  Besides there are a few obstacles to overcome, the railroad crossing would have to be moved and to widen the existing roads you would have to demolish houses and stores the border Robin’s Lane Road.  This will cause too much of a headache to commuters, business owners and most importantly the community around that area.

My next complaint is that it will waste taxpayers’ money to build a mall in Syosset, because there is a perfectly good mall 15 minutes away.  Even my roommate Chris says that’s a stupid idea to build a mall if there is already a mall close enough.  The mall is planned to use a multi million-dollar budget from the Nassau County funds, and take up to 3 years to build.  That construction will toss Nassau County into a deeper debt than it is in now.  The developers say the mall will pay for itself, but after how long?  This addition to the town will squander away a lot of money into a mall when the money can be used to improve the school conditions, or be spent towards the beautification of Syosset.

Although the mall will create both short and long term jobs, and will create more money flow into the town, we don’t need it.  The mall will create a demand for construction workers, that is the short term; it will also open jobs to the public, which is the long-term effect.  But what about the small strip malls that will be forced to close because of the opening of a mall.  There are 27 strip malls within my town and Huntington, which is the next town over.  The mall will unfortunately close down “mom and pop” stores.  Even though the mall will bring some jobs to the community it will most likely employ the younger workers.  Even if they do employ the older workers sometimes they cant do anything else than what they know.  I know that if my dad goes out of business he couldn’t be employed at the mall, because all he knows how to do is cook and that is what he is good at. And this is the case of many elders that work in the “mom and pop” stores.

Our town is a very rich town.  In our town we have 5 developments with multimillion dollar houses. Besides that, around the town you will see everyone driving new BMWs, Mercedes, and many other luxury cars.  You also frequently see the girls of Syosset running around the mall on a shopping spree with their moms’ charge card.  And if you ask them “wouldn’t your mom care that you are spending all this money?” they would give you a smile and say no, my parents don’t care they have money.  And with that I assume that our town is sufficiently wealthy.  So it does not look like many people need any more jobs, and besides we have 3 supermarkets and many other stores looking for employment and advertise around the town and within the school with posters and flyers.  So it is not that hard to find a job in Syosset.  Therefore we would not need a mall to decrease unemployment, because it is a choice whether people apply for the available jobs in the surrounding communities.  Besides the jobs, there is another issue that is on most of our minds, and that is location.

The site of the mall, which is next to a residential area, is another reason why the residents of Syosset do not want this mall.  Although the mall is going to be located closer to home, Syosset, and more accessible by foot, not many people would want to risk the dangers of walking to the mall if the above problems were to exist this being traffic.  It is also going to be built on an empty lot next to a residential area.  Being in Architecture, for 3 years, I have learned one main concept.  You should not build malls or large attractions too close a residential area.  Building a mall next to a residential area is bad for several reasons.  It can promote crime, depreciate land and the residents near the mall would have to put up with the construction. 

The first reason I think is the most important is the safety issue.  The mall sometimes can attract a bad group too it.  For example gangs, vandals, and other groups that are not wanted around a residential area.  Around the Broad Way mall a lot of gangs hang out there, unknown to what they are planning to do but they are a gang and the have the capability to do mischievous things at times.  These gangs have disrupted the peace of the surrounding community, and the bad elements might disrupt the peace within our neighborhood, and especially in a closely-knit community like Syosset, the elements can have a detrimental effect to property and the safety of kids.

            The proposed mall will involve 2-3 years worth of construction.  This includes a constant traffic of heavy trucks with dirt and debris flying everywhere.  The noise would also affect the happiness of the residents around the construction area.  Since many of the residents are fond of the peace and quiet of the surrounding area.  The heavy trucks can also pose a danger to kids. So with the 2-3 years of construction, trucks, dirt, and debris and the danger to kids are only a few more reason why residents do not want a mall in Syosset.

Syosset has many lush fields, parks and preserves so people can enjoy a sunny day laying, playing or wandering through the many different areas.  If the mall is built on the empty lot, a favorite hang out for kids will be taken away. And sentimental memories will be paved over.  I remember playing many games in the lot, like war, bike racing and many other activities.  Now building this mall here will take valuable memories away from me and other residents of Syosset who enjoyed their childhood playing in that field.  Without that field many memories cannot be revisited if that field is paved over and the mall is built.  I understand most of the developers just think it is a field but it is much more.  This field has memories attached with it, and increases the luster of Syosset.  A commuter passing by the lot on the expressway, can see the beauty of the lot with its many trees, and beautiful flowers.  This lot offers a visually pleasing picture of Syosset to passing motorists.  A much better idea for the development of the land is to build a playground.

            So the proposed mall in Syosset is a bad idea.  The many cons that the proposed mall has will out weigh the pros that the mall can offer.  The increase in traffic, the waste of taxpayers’ money and the attraction of bad elements to the peace full community will far out weigh the pros like more job opportunities and more money flow in to Syosset.  So please do not build a mall in Syosset we already have one in the neighboring Town.