Support and Opposition
Local newspaper, the New Haven Register, supported the mall - to the point of a "publisher's memo ordering the newsroom to play down any negative news". Support for the mall also came from opponents of the proposed University Place shopping center in Downtown New Haven.
The Galleria was strongly opposed by the rival Westfield Connecticut Post, which filed over 15 lawsuits against its construction. Westfield also formed a group called the "Save Our Downtown Alliance", allegedly defending the interests of local merchants, while simultaneously threatening potential anchor stores and national chains with 'site retribution' if they located at Long Wharf. Mall opponents characterized it "as a corporate welfare-bloated traffic and environmental nightmare that would kill downtown shops." In December 2000, Nordstrom withdrew its offer to anchor. Westfield bought the site for $20 million in a 2001 settlement of litigation over the failed plan to build the mall.
New Haven had used a similar strategy decades earlier to defeat neighboring North Haven's plans to build a mall.
Read more about this topic: New Haven Galleria
Famous quotes containing the words support and, support and/or opposition:
“There are so many intellectual and moral angels battling for rationalism, good citizenship, and pure spirituality; so many and such eminent ones, so very vocal and authoritative! The poor devil in man needs all the support and advocacy he can get. The artist is his natural champion. When an artist deserts to the side of the angels, it is the most odious of treasons.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“The confirmation of Clarence Thomas, one of the most conservative voices to be added to the [Supreme] Court in recent memory, carries a sobering message for the African- American community.... As he begins to make his mark upon the lives of African Americans, we must acknowledge that his successful nomination is due in no small measure to the support he received from black Americans.”
—Kimberly Crenshaw (b. 1959)
“I fear the popular notion of success stands in direct opposition in all points to the real and wholesome success. One adores public opinion, the other, private opinion; one, fame, the other, desert; one, feats, the other, humility; one, lucre, the other, love; one, monopoly, and the other, hospitality of mind.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)