Building The Mall at Oyster Bay

Community leaders and other organizers are getting out the word that building a shopping mall in Oyster Bay, Long Island will bring great benefit to the community in Nassau County. And this would be just at the moment when it is needed most.

It is expected that building the mall will create as many as 3,000 construction jobs and an additional 2,000 permanent jobs.  New tax revenues will be generated, estimated to be about $50 million, a great boost to county and municipal budgets. Centrally located on a reclaimed industrial site and the only shopping center with immediate access to the Long Island Expressway, it seems clear that this mall will add significantly to the general economy of Nassau County.

When the mall at Oyster Bay is completed it will be the first such major shopping mall constructed on Long Island in over 40 years.

“By any criteria or economic metric, this is a project of strategic regional significance,” said Gary Lewi, a spokesman for the mall’s developer. The mall at Oyster Bay “is a shovel-ready, privately financed project with no need for any taxpayer funding.”

What’s New in Midtown Manhattan?

From Groceries to Banks

There’s quite a bit of excitement these days in Midtown Manhattan.  Two new institutions in particular are soon to be gracing the area.  Indeed, it won’t just be Brooklyn and Queens’ residents that can take advantage of Fairway Market since there will now be a branch in the Loew’s Multiplex Cinema shopping plaza on Second Avenue and 30^th Street, due to be constructed before the end of the year.

And it’s going to be big too.  Measuring at 42,000 square feet, Midtown Manhattan shoppers will be faced with two glass elevators as well as two extra wide ones, taking them to the lower level market, tempting them with traditional, organic and specialty foods at competitive prices.

Fairway Market really is a store with a difference.  The lead merchants are real foodie Rock Stars who come out on Saturdays, showering customers with top tastes; answering questions and getting excited about different foods.  There is Steven Jenkins, Tony Maltese, Benny Lanfranco, Robert Ivers who serve fresh shrimp salad; whip up a tomato sauce for the store’s fresh ravioli; and demystify the secrets of coffee roasting.  This is definitely something midtowners have to look forward to.

Then, for the more serious Midtown Manhattan residents, looking for a highly reputable commercial community bank, they will be pleased to learn that Community National Bank recently opened a 2,4000 square foot full-service branch at 12 East 52nd Street (between Madison and Fifth Avenues).  Given that it is the fastest-growing commercial community in the NY tri-state area, it is likely to be a welcome addition to the Midtown Manhattan region.

The bank’s opening should not come as too much of a surprise, since the Community National Bank has recently enjoyed success throughout Nassau, Suffolk and Queens Counties.  Services that will be offered will include free web banking; cash management services; remote deposit capture and ATM 24-hour accessibility.  It is expected that this bank will have a hugely positively impact on the area’s businesses, boosting development as a commercial banking partner, given the fact that it already has a reputation for being a well-managed $500-million asset bank.

So next time you find yourself in Midtown Manhattan, look out for both the Fairway Market and the Community National Bank and see how – or if – it has changed the face of the region.