Quoted Text

Unruly youths bad for mall business

By MARV CERMAK
First published in print: Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Correction: Earlier versions of this column section mistakenly characterized which malls tackled issues of unruly teenagers by requiring those younger than 18 to be accompanied by a parent. Colonie Center has no such requirement.
Slowly, but surely rambunctious kids have driven out the vast majority of Friday night adult customers at the Rotterdam Square shopping mall.

     
After hearing complaints from store workers, employees of the mall operator and shoppers, last Friday I decided to take a look for myself. They weren't exaggerating.

While most youths were peaceful, many others were hooting, hollering, cursing, climbing on and jumping off mall benches, walking in groups up to a dozen, often blocking the remaining adult shoppers.

Friday before last, police were called to arrest a youth who had dropped his pants in front of a female security officer. Some mall workers said when they tell youths to stop horseplay kids respond with vile language.

Last Friday, some cutups threw numerous women's sanitary napkins on the concourse. Most nights there are two or three security officers on duty. Because of increasing problems, last Friday the staff was upped to seven.

One of the scant number of adult shoppers present Friday told me he had just come from Colonie Center. "You can't find a parking place there, but the Rotterdam lot is way less than half full. Adult shoppers have bailed out of here,'' he said.

Crossgates solved the weekend hooligan problem by requiring youths younger than 18 to be accompanied by an adult. Rotterdam store and mall workers told me mall management doesn't want to lean on the urchins because they are future customers.

http://timesunion.com/AspStori.....p;newsdate=1/21/2009

Shot the parents, schools, politicians, church leaders...etc etc........