Gateway Center, also referred to as Gateway Plaza Mall or simply Gateway Mall, is a

shopping complex A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

in the

Spring Creek A spring creek is a type of free flowing river whose name derives from its origin: an underground spring or set of springs which produces sufficient water to consistently feed a unique river. The water flowing in a spring creek may additionally b ...

section of

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough l ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. It is located just north of the

Belt Parkway The Belt Parkway is the name given to a series of connected limited-access highways that form a belt-like circle around the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. The Belt Parkway comprises three of the four parkways in what is known as ...

at Erskine Street and Gateway Drive, which is near portions of the

Gateway National Recreation Area Gateway National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area in New York City and Monmouth County, New Jersey. It provides recreational opportunities that are not commonly found in a dense urban environment, including ocean swimming, bi ...

. Built as part of the Gateway Estates plan for commercial and retail development, it consists of two structures: the original structure opened in 2002 (now called Gateway Center South), and a second adjacent development opened in 2014 (called Gateway Center North or Gateway Center II).

Location

The Gateway Center complex, constructed under the Gateway Estates development plan for

, is bounded by Erskine Street to the east, and a road now called Gateway Drive to the south and west, which follows the right of way of Seaview Avenue traveling east-to-west. An access road and parking lot form its northern boundary. It is located just north of the

and can be accessed by the parkway's Exit 15, which leads to Erskine Street. The original mall (Gateway Center South), which opened in 2002, consists of a complex, with a large parking lot and three separate structures to the south along Gateway Drive. It is anchored by several major stores, including

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, fi ...

The Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...

Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

, and

BJ's Wholesale Club BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc., commonly referred as BJ's, is an American membership-only warehouse club chain based in Marlborough, Massachusetts, operating on the East Coast of the United States in addition to Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana ...

. The newer northern complex (Gateway Center North), which opened in 2014, is similarly sized at , with a second parking lot, four small adjacent buildings for small outlets, a fifth structure for an

Applebee's Applebee's Restaurants LLC. is an American company that develops, franchises, and operates the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar restaurant chain. The Applebee's concept focuses on casual dining, with mainstream American dishes such as salad ...

, and a sixth for a bank. Tenants of this section, which opened in stages in late 2014, include

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Girl ...

, T.J.Maxx, ShopRite, and

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, whe ...

. The two-part complex was envisioned as a suburban-style

strip mall A strip mall, strip center or strip plaza is a type of shopping center common in North America where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front. ...

. The southern complex was designed by GreenbergFarrow Architects. The northern complex was designed by GreenbergFarrow as well as the

Perkins Eastman 'Perkins Eastman'' is an international architecture, interior design, urban design, planning, landscape architecture, graphic design, and project management firm. Headquartered in New York City, the firm is led by founding Principals Bradford Per ...

firm. Both main structures are designed in

Georgian architectural style Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830. It is named after the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover— George I, George II, ...

, with brick outer facades and green trim. GreenbergFarrow also designed Related's Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market. The mall is located north of the former Fountain Avenue Landfill (now re-developed as Shirley Chisholm State Park) and was constructed on part of 230 acres of former landfill, which characterized Spring Creek for much of the 20th century. Located across Erskine Street to the east is the Brooklyn Developmental Center. Just north of the complex are

Nehemiah Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced ...

Spring Creek and Gateway Elton, two affordable housing developments which were planned and constructed along with the mall as part of the Gateway Estates project. West of the mall across Hendrix Creek is Starrett City (now known as Spring Creek Towers), accessible via the Belt Parkway to the south, or

Flatlands Avenue Flatlands Avenue is a major street in the New York City borough of Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administr ...

to the north.

Spring Creek Educational Campus Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

, which houses two New York City high schools, is also located north at Flatlands Avenue and Elton Street.

Transportation

The mall is served directly by the and buses. Formerly terminating at Erskine Street near the Brooklyn Developmental Center, the B13, B83, and Q8 were extended to a new bus terminal area at the west end of Gateway Center North in August 2014. The B84, meanwhile, was created in June 2013 to serve the Spring Creek neighborhood. The closest New York City Subway stations to the mall are New Lots Avenue in East New York, served by the (connected by the B84 bus), and

Rockaway Parkway Rockaway Parkway is a major commercial street in the Canarsie & Brownsville neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York. Canarsie High School, as well as a firehouse and several homes and businesses are on Rockaway Parkway. The Rockaway Parkway stat ...

in Canarsie, served by the .

History

The area that is now Gateway Mall, along with most of the

neighborhood, originally consisted of marshland and creeks. The Milford Street Landfill existed on the site from the 1930s to 1950. Afterwards, the land remained vacant and was frequently used as illegal dumping grounds. The former landfill became known as the Vandalia Dunes due to its sandy landscape, and became a habitat for the

Henslow's sparrow __NOTOC__ Henslow's sparrow (''Centronyx henslowii'') is a passerine bird in the family Passerellidae. It was named by John James Audubon in honor of John Stevens Henslow. It was originally classified in the genus '' Emberiza'' and called ''Hen ...

and other bird species. The area became the Fresh Creek Urban Renewal Area in 1967. In 1989, the tract was acquired by Starrett Housing Corporation—the managers of Starrett City, which opened in 1974—for

mixed-income housing The definition of mixed-income housing is broad and encompasses many types of dwellings and neighborhoods. Following Brophy and Smith, the following will discuss “non-organic” examples of mixed-income housing, meaning “a deliberate effort to ...

construction. Although this plan was to be the predecessor to the current housing program in the area, the land was never developed. On June 25, 1996, the New York City Council amended the original Fresh Creek Urban Renewal Plan to facilitate the development of the Gateway Estates plan, which included what would become the Gateway Center. Ground broke on the Gateway Center pr