Reports are popping up of malls in New York State hiding Santa inside generic displays. Observers describe the settings as “space-age… fake glaciers.” Westchester Mall in White Plains and Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, each owned and managed by Simon Property Group, have riled up customers by departing from the traditional Christmas display. The New York Post reports:
“Santa comes along with a decorated tree; he doesn’t come with a spaceship,” Maria Lovdahl fumed.
The Williston Park mother of two was shopping Thursday night when she spotted the apparently futuristic Santa photo kiosk.
“Me and my husband looked at each other and said, ‘What is that?’ ” Lovdahl recalled. “They said it was because people were offended by the traditional Christmas display, that they had gotten comments in prior years.”
They’re getting a lot more comments this year, so much so that mall management is backtracking:
“Key elements are still being added to the Glacier experience at Roosevelt Field over the coming week — and after hearing early customer feedback, one of those elements will be a traditional Christmas tree alongside the Glacier experience,” the mall said.
If it’s true that the squeaky door gets the grease, it falls to Christmas supporters to prove more sneaky than the world’s Scrooges.
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