The Nanuet Mall is a Simon operated mall located at the intersection of Route 59

New York State Route 59

New York State Route 59 is an east–west state highway in southern Rockland County, New York, in the United States. The route extends for from NY 17 in Hillburn to U.S. Route 9W in Nyack. In Suffern, it has a concurrency with US 202 for . NY 59 runs parallel to the New...

 and Middletown Road in Nanuet, New York

Nanuet, New York

Nanuet is a hamlet , in the Town of Clarkstown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Pearl River; south of New City; east of Spring Valley and west of West Nyack. It is 19 miles north of Manhattan, and 2 miles north of the New Jersey border...

. The Nanuet Mall opened in 1969 and the original two anchor stores were Bamberger's

Bamberger's

Bamberger's was a department store chain with locations primarily in New Jersey, but also Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania. The chain was headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.-History:Founded in 1893 by Louis Bamberger as L...

 (later became Macy's

Macy's

Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...

) and Sears. In 1994, it expanded to include Abraham & Straus

Abraham & Straus

Abraham & Straus was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, in 1929 it became part of Federated Department Stores, which eliminated the A&S brand shortly after its 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company...

, which became Stern's

Stern's

Stern's was a regional department store chain serving the U.S. states of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The chain was in business for more than 130 years, prior to its 2001 integration into Macy's and Bloomingdale's...

 and finally Boscov's

Boscov's

Boscov's is an American department store founded by Solomon Boscov in 1911. The first store was in Reading, Pennsylvania, and today 40 stores are spread throughout the Mid-Atlantic states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, and Delaware....

, before the latter closed in May 2008.

The mall, which used to be wetlands, had grown to 900000 square feet (83,612.7 m²) and encompassed 120 stores in 1999. The mall went into decline following the opening of the nearby Palisades Center

Palisades Center

The Palisades Center Mall, often referred to as the Palisades Mall, in West Nyack, New York is the eighth largest shopping mall in the United States by total area, and sixth largest by gross leasable space...

 in March 1998, and in 2008 it was announced that the mall would be converted into a Lifestyle Center by Simon. As of November 2011, the mall is still open, though there are only 2 stores that are still open. (Excluding Macy's and Sears) They are undergoing renovation as of 2010.

The Nanuet Mall was the site of the notorious Brinks Robbery

Brinks robbery (1981)

The Brink's robbery of 1981 was an armed robbery committed on October 20, 1981, which was carried out by Black Liberation Army members; including Jeral Wayne Williams , Donald Weems , Samuel Smith, Nathaniel Burns , Cecilio "Chui" Ferguson, Samuel Brown ; several former members of the Weather...

, during which members of the Black Liberation Army

Black Liberation Army

The Black Liberation Army was an underground, black nationalist-Marxist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981...

 and the May 19th Communist Movement

May 19th Communist Movement

The May 19 Coalition , was a US-based, self-described revolutionary organization formed by members of the Weather Underground Organization...

murdered two police officers and a security guard during the robbery of an armored car.