Kings Plaza Shopping Center
5141 Avenue U | also 5160 Kings Plaza, 5130 Kings Plaza, 5333 Kings Plaza | Marine Park | built 1970
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1965
Alexander's announces a Southeast Brooklyn store on a former Standard Oil storage site, and Macy's joins the plan
The site at Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U had held a Standard Oil petroleum storage facility from the 1930s, and afterward a plastics producer and an auto garage operated there. In 1965 the Alexander's department store chain said it would build there, to reach residents of growing Flatlands and Canarsie while racing rival E. J. Korvette. By 1966 the project had become a joint venture of Macy's and Alexander's.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1968
Mayor Lindsay and Borough President Stark attend the groundbreaking for Kings Plaza
Ground was broken on July 8, 1968. The ceremony was led by Macy's president David L. Yunich and Alexander's president Alexander S. Farkas, and Mayor John Lindsay and Borough President Abe Stark attended. John Hancock Financial provided the financing. The project included rehabilitating Flatbush Avenue and Avenue U and building the bus terminal on Flatbush Avenue.
“Ground was broken on Kings Plaza on July 8, 1968.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1970
Kings Plaza opens with 79 stores, the city's first fully enclosed and air-conditioned mall
The mall opened right after Labor Day in 1970. Its 79 stores included the first location of the Sbarro pizzeria chain, and a two-screen cinema opened with it. Kings Plaza was the first mall in the city with both full enclosure and air conditioning, and by the following year it had grown to 125 stores.
“The mall opened in September 1970, right after Labor Day, with 79 stores. Among these stores was the first location of the pizzeria chain Sbarro.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1970
Neighbors barricade side streets to keep mall traffic out of their blocks
Residents near the new mall protested its arrival by blocking nearby side streets with barricades. Their aim was to stop traffic heading for the shopping center from spilling onto residential blocks.
“In protest of the new mall, local residents barricaded nearby side streets to prevent traffic congestion from spilling over to residential blocks.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1970
A rooftop energy plant, first run on five diesel engines, powers the mall
Kings Plaza was built with its own cogeneration plant on the roof, the Kings Plaza Total Energy Plant, which originally ran on five Nordberg-built diesel engines. It now uses four Deutz natural gas engines that supply all of the mall's electricity, with exhaust heat used for heating and cooling.
“The plant, which was built with the mall, originally used five Nordberg-built diesel engines.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1984
The city halts a new parking fee after four days, then lets it return
Parking had been free until the owners proposed a 50-cent charge in 1983 to pay for improvements and private security, drawing strong opposition from residents and a protest organized by community leaders. The fee began in January 1984, and the city ordered it stopped after four days pending an environmental study. Later that month it returned, after the city's environmental protection and buildings departments concluded it would cause no adverse effects.
“The parking fee was put in place in January 1984 and lasted four days before the New York City government ordered the mall to stop collecting the fee…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1997
Sears takes over the space left vacant when Alexander's went bankrupt and closed in 1992
Alexander's filed for bankruptcy in 1992 and closed all its stores, including the one at Kings Plaza, and its real estate passed to an affiliate of Vornado Realty Trust. The space sat empty until Sears took it over in 1997. Sears was expected to revive the other shops, though there was worry about competition from newer shopping areas in Brooklyn.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2010
Lowe's opens on the old parking lot after neighbors force a much smaller expansion
Plans from about 2002 called for adding 100,000 square feet with a home improvement store, a multiplex and indoor parking. The parking lot closed in 2003 and Lowe's signed on two years later, but community fears of added traffic led developers to shrink the project to just the Lowe's. Construction began in 2009, and the store opened on July 23, 2010, after the original AMC Loews cinema closed in January 2010.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2013
Several hundred teenagers attack visitors and vandalize the mall, forcing it to shut
On December 26, 2013, starting around 5 p.m., several hundred teenagers assaulted visitors and damaged the mall until it shut at 7 p.m. A temporary rule barred anyone underage without an adult. One girl was arrested but not charged, and no one was killed or seriously hurt. Reports said the flashmob had been organized online as the supposed world's largest knockout game.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2018
A seven-alarm fire in the parking garage injures 21 people, including 18 firefighters
A seven-alarm fire broke out on the garage's second and third levels on the morning of September 17, 2018. Between 250 and 300 firefighters responded, and 21 people were injured, 18 of them firefighters. A car dealership had 120 cars parked on the second level. Police took a suspect into custody, and arson charges were filed the same day.
“…a seven-alarm fire broke out on the second and third floor levels of the mall's parking garage. ... 21 people were injured…”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Kings PlazaWikipedia
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