Poughkeepsie Galleria security starts carding teens

Weintana Abraha Guest Writer

For anybody who wants to take a quick trip to the mall to jump-start their weekend, remember to bring valid identification. As of Friday, Sept. 9, the Poughkeepsie Galleria has changed its policies to require shoppers under the age of 18 to be escorted by an adult 21 years of age or older, between 4 p.m. until closing time on Friday and Saturday nights. Shoppers between the ages of 18 and 21 must show their ID or else they will not be permitted to enter the Galleria.

The Galleria, owned by the Pyramid Management Group, is the largest of three malls in Duchess County and is, thus far, the only one county-wide with this chaperone rule. Similar regulations have been made at New York malls such as the Carousel Center in Syracuse, the Crossgates Mall in Albany and the Walden Galleria in Buffalo. All of these malls share the same parent company with the Poughkeepsie Galleria.

Evening chaperones are becoming more popular in malls in the area. For example, The Crystal Run Galleria in Middletown initiated a similar policy on the same day as the Galleria.

According to Colleen Pillus, the Galleria’s marketing director, the Galleria decided to implement this weekend-chaperone policy after a steady rise of complaints last spring from other weekend shoppers about “the uncomfortable atmosphere” in te mall.

Most of the complaints that Pillus cited seemed to deal with the sheer volume of aggressive teenagers loitering and using vulgar language. Nothing was stated about vandalism or shoplifting in these complaints.

Pillus said that the policy has had tremendous success at other shopping centers and sparks higher sales. “Businesses that [were] more teen-oriented are affected in the first weeks, but leveled out after a month. Overall mall sales increase.”
She believes that it will be a success in Poughkeepsieas as well, asserting, “Public reaction has been mainly positive.”

With a large number of college-age students in such close proximity—SUNY New Paltz, Marist, Duchess County Community College and Vassar are only a 15-minute drive away from the Galleria—there may be a significant number of people who might not be able to go shopping on weekend afternoons or evenings (often the only time available to a full-time student).

Even though a majority of students may be 18 or older, there are still many underage students whom this could affect.

“It seems really drastic,” said Melissa Esner ’08. “Even though there’s probably good reasons behind it, if I were underage I’d be pissed.”
Victoria Ramsay ’09 added, “It annoys me, because I’ll have to wait until December [to go to the mall].” However, she conceded that “the rules can’t make everybody happy.”

For those who do not like these new rules, this chaperone-policy is not changing anytime soon. “This is not a temporary policy,” said Pillus.

Still, Pillus reminded potential younger consumers “that teens are welcome to shop any hour; [just during the evening] hours they must be accompanied.”