Short Hills Mall: In fur-theft attempt, men drive into a Bloomingdale's

Newsday
February 13, 2008

MILLBURN, N.J. - It's unclear whether would-be thieves got away with anything in a brazen burglary attempt at Short Hills Mall.

Millburn police say four men drove a stolen car through the plate glass doors of Bloomingdale's around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday and went to the fur coat section.

Police say they grabbed three racks of coats, but did not get far with them.

Police say the furs are locked to the racks and it's unclear whether the men made off with any.

One was left in the store, the others were still in the parking lot when the men fled in an SUV.

Authorities are still trying to find the suspects.

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A Struggle to Steal a Fur or Two

New York Times
By NATE SCHWEBER
Published: February 14, 2008

MILLBURN, N.J. ? Perhaps the four thieves were not aware of the valet service available at The Mall at Short Hills.

Instead, about 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, the thieves parked inside Bloomingdale?s at the mall after crashing through two sets of plate glass doors nearly an inch thick. Their objective: fur coats, racks of them. In the end, a spokeswoman for the store said, they may have made off with one or two coats.

But it was apparently a struggle.

Detective Lt. David M. Cuomo of the Millburn Police Department said that one man driving a Dodge Intrepid, reported stolen in Elizabeth, backed the car through the doors, through a foyer area and into the store.

The spokeswoman for the store, Anne Keating, said display cases of watches and mirrors on a supporting beam were also damaged.

As soon as the vehicle was inside the store, Detective Cuomo said, three other men in jeans and hooded sweatshirts rushed inside and went after the racks of fur coats, which had recently been placed near a window.

When the men found that the coats were attached to the racks, they tried to wrestle the racks past the car and out the door, all the time being captured on a surveillance camera, Detective Cuomo said.

?They had a bit of a tussle,? Detective Cuomo added. ?The vehicle backing in so close slowed them down.?

In the end, they left one rack of coats inside the glass-strewn foyer and another just outside the store and fled in a waiting sport utility vehicle.

Ms. Keating said the fur coats ranged in price from $2,000 to $200,000, though inventory was being taken to determine which ones were stolen.

On Wednesday sheets of plywood covered the damage, which a construction worker estimated at $50,000 to $75,000.

Shoppers milled about the store as though nothing had happened.

One woman asked a clerk what took place and was told that the robbers were ?foolish.?

The clerk added that the store had recently moved its fur coats near a window in anticipation of Valentine?s Day.

wow-- thats a lot of change! whered youd hear all this?

all you people who are attacking those asking for change or an upgrade.

"During the late 2008-early 2009, the mall will have numerous store openings and relocations. Pay/Half will be closed in favor of a newer, larger Victoria's Secret with half the store selling PINK products. Hollister Co will occupy the former Victoria's Secret location upstairs. The Disney Store, 7FOX, and Bigdrum Art will be moved to make room for an Abercrombie & Fitch store. The Disney store will take place of Ashley Stewart (moving upstairs), and an empty spot downstairs. Bigdrum Art & 7FOX will be moved in the JCPenney wing upstairs. Ashley Stewart will move to an empty spot in the Sears wing, so will a new, renovated Aeropostale next door. Taking place of the former Aeropostale is Hot Topic. Finally, B. Dalton Bookseller will be renovated with a new look, and a new name. It will be called Barnes & Noble Bookseller Express."

i wonder what demographic simon property group and abercrombie are looking at!

"hollister specializes in California surfer style apparel"
"hot topic caters to a number of youth-oriented "scenes," such as metal, punk, emo, goth, club, otaku and lounge"

There is nothing wrong with the Newport mall. It's nothing special but it serves its purpose. What is certainly true is that as downtown continues to gentrify, so will the Newport Mall.

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I dunno.. what were you thinking? That a mall in Jersey City was going to have a Tiffany in it?


It's worth repeating, and I've said this on a bunch of the Whole Foods threads.. we simply DO NOT HAVE the appropriate demos for " middle to upper" retailers to take us seriously in the QUANTITIES they need to make them viable. When you run demo's on our area, the average incomes and disposable $$ figures run far below what a lot of folks need to plug into their proforma's in order to make a store do the many millions they need to make it profitable. You can build 10 to 20,000 luxury condos all day long, but even when they're actually open, occupied, paying taxes, AND "censused" it's still a statistical "drop in the bucket" against the rest of Hudson County.

I remember when I first moved to JC I was excited about the mall. What was I thinking??

The first time I went to the mall I was looking for a jacket and quickly discovered that I was shopping in the wrong place. The second time I went to see a movie. (a ghetto fabulous experience- complete with ignorant young people yelling at the film)

Went to Newport Mall the other day...seems that they will be adding a Hollister and an Armani Exchange...

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A lot of New Yorkers love the Short Hill Mall -- I am sure many would come over on the PATH and shop at the Newport Mall if it was safer.

Timeout NY: Pack your bags: The high-end megamall -- The Mall at Short Hills

Decked out with a massive sculpture of a crystal ball, indoor gardens and fat leather chairs, the Mall at Short Hills (Rte 24 and JFK Pkwy, Short Hills, NJ) is a high-end shopping mecca. If you favor Dress Barn, you?re out of luck. You?ll find Gucci, Cartier and a list of about 165 other upscale retailers along these marble halls. This is where Tony Soprano would shop if he had class.

The mall serves the community it was built for. The teenage issue is a nationwide problem, not a JC problem. All of life is not clean and civilized and created for children/short people/professional people/people who like art house films.

Sigh.[/quote]

This about sums it up. You live in JC folks. The mall and its stores are in business to attract the greatest number of customers, not to cater to fanciers of Banana Republic and the like. Eddie Bauer, for example, went belly up fast. You can spend your money on this side of the river, but maybe not in JC. Try Short Hills.

Malls are also built to make money for investors. If it's art films and typing paper you want, I suggest Manhattan, or Oleson's Mercantile, ask for Nellie.

The mall operators should blast classical music from the rafters at full volume. You know, a good selection of Mahler, Rachmininoff and Stravinsky. Maybe a touch of Brahms from time to time? That'll clear out all the Bloods, Crips and doo-rag wearing Wannabes mighty quick.
Plus: Close the Gitmo-like movie "theater" upstairs (you know, the one with the gummy floors and broken back seating.)

or, rather than raze something they just put $20M into, integrate the thing into the neighborhood-- relocate the decks, put some street retail in along Marin so it's not so "cut off" from Hamilton Park, make it more of a neighborhood town center concept. That wont change the crime issues, of course, but it will make it a more civic-minded and approachable retail center.

The best improvement to the Newport Mall would be razing the thing.

they should replace all the pos stores with high end ones. even the people who hate corporations would probably appreciate a crate & barrel over jimmy jazz.

also to really get rid of the trash, take out the theatre or change it to show independent/foreign as well as remove the food court. Maybe put in a Joe's =)

AND THE REASON THERES A MINI-PRECINT IN THE MALL IS ??????????

I'VE ALLWAYS SAID IT AND STAND BY IT, REGARDLESS IF NEWPORT WERE TO LEASE SPACE TO Bloomingdales & Tiffany, the place is still a Dump !


CK

Cops: Pregnant store manager knocked out while trying to rescue brother in mall fight

by Charles Hack
Sunday February 03, 2008, 8:46 PM

A pregnant shoe store manager was knocked cold Saturday afternoon while trying to stop several suspected gang members beating up her teenage brother in the Newport Centre Mall, Jersey City police told The Jersey Journal today.

Officers from three districts descended on the mall and arrested three people for fighting with police, according to reports, but the teenager's attackers fled, cops said.

Police were called to a large fight in the Newport Centre Mall around 3:50 p.m.; when they arrived, they found a large unruly crowd, perhaps as many as 100 people, standing around the semi-conscious body of a 25-year-old store manager who later told police she is four months pregnant.

As the officers questioned witnesses, an agitated Denise Estrella, 19, of Hutton Street, began yelling at them, police said. A 15-year-old boy, who also lives on Hutton Street, threatened police and reportedly pushed one officer in the chest and cursed at him.

Police tried to arrest the boy, and Estrella and a 16-year-old boy from Palisade Avenue grappled with the officers, reports said. All three were arrested on charges of obstructing a government function and resisting arrest; both boys also are charged with aggravated assault on a police officer.

A Newport Mall security guard told cops that just before they arrived, she saw as many as seven juveniles beating up the 15-year-old and 16-year-old boys. The guard said the pregnant store manager was elbowed in the mouth and knocked unconscious while trying to break up the fight. Police reports were unclear as to which teenager was the woman's brother.

The 16-year-old was treated at the Jersey City Medical Center for several cuts above the left eye and face. The store manager was treated for unspecified injuries at the Jersey City Medical Center, reports said.

Traffic has gotten completely awful over in Paramus; I think a lot of that is to do with the construction on 17 at Essex street really slowing down traffic leaving the mall. As far as the crowd, I think that's just the kids these days are. Willowbrook is even worse.

You know, I went to the mall in paramus yesterday and don't remember the traffic being so bad on rt 17 as well as the crowd being so newport center. It is unfortunate because there are a lot of nice stores there. I guess short hills is still the best choice.

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Too funny - security on segways, I've seen them to. They're lazy to work or too fat to move. Its not if the mall is huge - siht, when I fart it reverberates throughtout the whole complex.

I'm surprised, I would have though any mall with the vision to equip their security guards with Segways would be a safe place.

Newport has the worse security EVERYTHING I've ever seen.

I still remember when a guy came in the store back when I worked there and asked me to turn my head while he stole speakers...I called security and about 10 mins later they sent down the little old lady security guard (even though she is a sweethart) WHAT WAS SHE SUPPOSED TO DO!!!?

I had to walk from behind the counter and "escort" the wannabe thief out the store myself.

As for their camera system HA! There are tons of blind spots in the mall...that's why they're always getting robbed!

From News12:

Police: Robberies spike at Newport Centre Mall

(01/25/08) JERSEY CITY - Police say the number of robberies at Jersey City?s Newport Centre Mall has risen significantly since December.

In the first case on Dec. 27, police say two robbers beat up two GameStop employees who were in possession of night deposits. The suspects made off with $27,000.

Detectives say over the last two weeks, two men were caught on camera posing as undercover security guards and approaching boys in their teens. According to police, both teens had shopped at GameStop and both were robbed.

One police officer calls the security cameras outside the mall the worst surveillance cameras in the city.

Newport Centre?s public relations firm released this statement: ?Our primary concern is always for the safety and well-being of our shoppers and mall employees. We are fully cooperating with the Jersey City Police Department in its investigation and strongly encourage mall visitors and employees to alert mall security to any suspicious activity.?

Video : http://news12.cv.net/video/FN125RBT.wmv

http://www.news12.com/NJ/topstories/article?id=206332#