The venerable Cross County Shopping Center ”“ which was unveiled to the Yonkers community in the 1950s on a site that dates to Colonial trade with the Indians  ”“ continues to remake itself with a slew of new retailers and amenities.
A massive capital-improvement project in excess of $250 million began in 2006 and is still going strong.
“With our whole development project, we probably spent between $9 million and $14 million to improve the navigation in and around the center,” said Liz Pollack, marketing manager at Macerich Co., retained by property owner Brooks Shopping Centers L.L.C. to manage the ongoing redevelopment. “That included all of the work we did on I-87, the new traffic lanes, the work on Cross County Parkway, the new entrances into the center and all of the new signage.”
A brand-new “City of Yonkers” monument welcomes the 200,000-plus commuters that pass the shopping mall each and every day.
Pollack broke down new tenancies as follows: TGI Friday”™s, 8,500 square feet, opening summer 2011; Spencer Gifts, 1,917 square feet, opening May-June 2011; Sarku Japan, 1,066 sq ft, opening summer 2011; Green Cubed, 375 square-foot kiosk, opening summer 2011; Blink Fitness, 16,342 square feet, now open on the lower level of Old Navy.
Swarovski Crystal will open a 1,168-square-foot retail store late summer.
“It”™s going to be a beautiful storefront,” said Chip Ferguson, senior manager of property management for Macerich, of the retailer”™s aesthetic, which will mirror its Times Square store.
There is a brand-new Fashions in Bloom spring topiary garden exhibit in the center of the mall, which Pollack said was constructed by “the designer who creates topiaries for Disney and Coca-Cola.”
A spring flower event for families is planned with the New York Botanical Garden.
“If you haven”™t had a chance to visit Cross County Shopping Center recently, now is a great time to come out, enjoy the great weather and the new environment we”™ve created,” said James Stifel, chief investment officer for Benenson Capital Partners L.L.C. and executive vice president for Brooks Shopping Centers L.L.C., in a written statement. “The past three years of development have been centered on infrastructure and architectural work, and now shoppers are able to enjoy the newly renovated outdoor gathering spaces, enhanced merchandise mix and family-friendly amenities that are now open.”
Lubin”™s clothed the county
Lubin”™s Men”™s & Boy”™s World, a former Cross County Shopping Center tenant that was there when it opened in 1954, holds special clout for Janice Lubin Kirschner and for thousands of county residents.
“Even though it started as a children”™s store known for christening outfits in the ”™50s, it sort of grew up with my brother and I, becoming all men”™s in the ”™60s,” said the daughter of late owner Eugene Lubin, a civic force in the City of Yonkers and beyond. “Then, it was fine clothing. You never left unless you looked your best. My father ”¦ he was very proud to be the king of the bar mitzvah suits.”
Lubin”™s Men”™s and Boy”™s World now operates as a division of Rothman”™s in Scarsdale.
It”™s no surprise that Eugene Lubin, who passed away this winter at age 88, was widely revered beyond his immediate family.
“He was a formidable businessman because his attitude was, ”˜Never say die,”™ and he was always optimistic,” said former business partner Roy Stillman, president of Stillman Management, who partnered with Lubin, Bob Friedman, Alan Weismann and Westfair Business Publications”™ Publisher Dee DelBello to run the now defunct Westchester Jewish Chronicle. “He believed that he could sell ice in the winter. He was always willing to go out of his way to help others or the organizations he worked for.”
Lubin was active in a number of organizations that ranged from the Yonkers Jewish Council to Yonkers Savings Bank and the UJA-Federation.
“He believed in community,” Lubin Kirschner said. “He loved going out there and raising money for things he believed in.”
His legacy remains in the hearts of those he helped in business and civic ventures.
“I came into contact with your dad on many occasions ”¦ and he never failed to inquire, ”˜How was business? How”™s the family?”™” wrote one Yonkers resident, in a letter to Lubin”™s daughter. “As he was either on a committee or chairman of something, I often wondered how he had time to do all of that and still run a successful business. But that was Gene Lubin, a ”˜Man for All.”™”
Lubin”™s was among the last remaining tenants of the Cross County”™s original roster of stores when it moved to Greenburgh in 2002.
