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This article makes some harsh statements about both the mall and what preceded it in that area. I grew up within a mile of the site and my mother was instrumental in holding the developers accountable to their plans. She was very much against the mall at first, but grew to appreciate how it became a focal point for socializing among a very diverse mixture of people. Later, it was the place where she could go to see her doctors, all within a mile of her house and with dedicated, easy parking for patients.
First: The “family businesses” that were lost to this space isn’t what the author portrays it to be. There was decrepit bowling alley (which I used to work for), an auto dealership, a Burger King, a beer/soda distributor, and a diner that were displaced by the mall. The area flooded constantly (12" or more) and I’m sure the owners were more than happy to get a buyout so they could permanently vacate the area and escape the constant menace of flooding.
The land upon which the mall was built had toxic waste buried in it from an old airport from the 1920s and from a printing plant that closed in the 1960s. If the mall had not been built, none of the toxic waste would have remediated.
The mall: I am no fanboy of malls, but I have to give credit where credit is due. The Palisades Mall is beautiful and well-designed. It is so good, in fact, that it put the old Nanuet Mall out of business (it was recently bulldozed and replaced with other stores). If you go there, you will see LOTS of young people working and decent jobs for adults at the Home Depot and other anchor stores there. You will see people from all walks of life enjoying the space and the recreational activities (rope climbing, ice skating, bowling, go carts, VR, etc.).
The cemetery: The care of the cemetery was part of the original plan and design from the very beginning. The utmost care was taken to preserve the space. It is in the best condition it has ever been in. Prior to the mall, it was an overgrown and neglected space that was an eyesore everyone could see from Route 59.
If old graveyards are your thing, drive one more mile east on Route 59 to the abandoned Central Nyack rural cemetery just east of the shopping plaza at the intersection of Rt 59 and Rt 303. It is up on a rocky hill (on the left as you travel east). You’d never know it was there! There is a lumber yard right at the entrance, across from a car dealership.