American Dream Mall Sued Over 200-Year-Old Law

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — The American Dream mall was hit with a lawsuit Monday by Paramus alleging the facility is violating centuries old law and creating a "nuisance" for Bergen County residents.

The two major malls in Paramus remain have closed on Sunday for decades — thanks to statewide "blue laws" dating back to 1798. But many of the stores in the retail American Dream complex, just 10 miles away, remain open — and Paramus officials are frustrated.

The practice, according to the Borough of Paramus, is "injurious to public health, public safety, public peace, public comfort and public convenience, and offends the moral standards of communities throughout Bergen County."

The borough also listed, as defendants, the town of East Rutherford and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, on whose land the complex is located.

The "blue laws" were passed in New Jersey in 1798, but it was up to each county to decide whether to enforce them.

In 1980, notes the lawsuit, Bergen County voters chose in a referendum to maintain the Sunday laws by a vote of 192,394 to 157,648.

American Dream Responds

"The lawsuit is a meritless political stunt driven by private competitors’ interests," said an American Dream spokesman on Thursday. "It is well established that Bergen County’s Blue Laws do not apply to property owned by the state."

Paramus has two malls within its borders — Garden State Plaza near routes 4 and 17, and Paramus Park Mall, between Route 17 and the Garden State Parkway. When the malls are operating, highway traffic is busy, but it tapers off on Sundays.

American Dream is located 10 miles south of Garden State Plaza, just off Route 3, next to MetLife Stadium on property owned by the New Jersey Sports And Exposition Authority.

The New York Times noted that as of 1978, 10 of New Jersey’s 21 counties still had blue laws, but nine of those counties subsequently repealed the laws.

Bergen voters, who were concerned about traffic, wanted to keep them.

The laws don't apply to restaurants, gas stations, and certain other stores that remain open on Sunday at the malls and elsewhere in Bergen County.

American Dream's spokesman argued that the blue laws don't apply to American Dream because it's on state property.

"American Dream is on State property where retail sales have occurred on Sundays for decades," he said. "We look forward to our day in court."