The American Dream Mall.

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

The Borough of Paramus has filed a lawsuit to shut down Sunday retail sales at the American Dream Mall, claiming the East Rutherford complex has repeatedly violated Bergen County’s Blue Laws.

In the complaint, filed Aug. 25 in Superior Court, Paramus accuses mall operator Ameream, LLC, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, the Borough of East Rutherford, and Bergen County of allowing more than 120 stores inside the mall to sell prohibited goods on Sundays, despite the county’s 1980 referendum banning such sales.

Paramus is home to Westfield's Garden State Plaza, one of the largest mall's in the region.

“Businesses… with the encouragement and support of the mall’s ownership… have violated the law hundreds if not thousands of times since January of this year,” the complaint says.

Holiday traffic at the American Dream.

Holiday traffic at the American Dream.

American Dream Mall

The borough is asking the court to declare the mall a public nuisance, impose fines, and permanently bar Sunday retail operations.

According to the suit, the mall has advertised “All Stores Open Sundays” on its website and electronic message boards, with photo evidence included from Aug. 12. Paramus argues these promotions, along with the stores’ continued Sunday operations, show willful defiance of the law.

American Dream released the following statement to Daily Voice Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 26:

“The lawsuit is a meritless political stunt driven by private competitors’ interests. It is well established that Bergen County’s Blue Laws do not apply to property owned by the State—American Dream is on State property where retail sales have occurred on Sundays for decades. We look forward to our day in court.”

A fierce debate erupted over Sunday retail operations at the American Dream Complex last January, when Bergen County officials accused the mall of violating the county’s long-standing Blue Laws. 

In a letter to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA), County Executive James J. Tedesco III accused the agency of abandoning its opposition to Sunday sales and enabling a violation of state law.

A source with direct knowledge of the situation rebuffed the county’s claims, emphasizing that the Meadowlands has not been subject to the Blue Laws for decades.

“The land housing American Dream is owned by the NJSEA and is a state project, which means it is not subject to county laws, including the Blue Laws,” the source said.

The source also pointed to the mall’s significant economic impact, arguing that Sunday retail contributes to a larger state mission.

“American Dream is a tourist destination that benefits local and regional businesses, as well as the entire Meadowlands region,” the source explained. The full weekend experience is critical to fulfilling the state’s economic and tourism mission for the project. Sunday retail boosts the local economy, creates new jobs, and increases tourism, they added.