Bergen County officials and American Dream’s owners, Triple Five, remain on stand-by as they await guidance from the New Jersey Attorney General’s office on who can enforce the county’s blue laws in the Meadowlands.
A report in NorthJersey.com from Jan. 17 revealed that retail stores at American Dream have been open on Sundays for nearly a year, operating in violation of the county’s blue laws, which prohibit the sale of nonessential items like clothing, furniture, and appliances.
The report said that Bergen County Executive James Tedesco initially asked the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) to enforce the county’s restrictions in May, but the state agency responded that it lacked the authority to do so. The county executive’s office then turned to the New Jersey Attorney General’s office earlier this month, formally requesting guidance on enforcement.
Derek Sands, a spokesperson for the County of Bergen, told Jersey Digs that the county office has kept lines of communication open with the Attorney General’s office but has yet to receive a response a week later.
“American Dream’s disregard of the state statute is deeply concerning, and its violation gives American Dream Mall tenants an unfair advantage over all other Bergen County businesses lawfully complying with state law,” Sands said.
A report in NorthJersey.com noted that Bergen County’s blue law, restricting most activities on Sundays, dates back to 1704. The state legislature incorporated the blue law into a law named the ‘Act to Suppress Vice and Immorality’ in 1798.
More than 150 years later, lawmakers in Trenton voted to allow all counties in the Garden State to make their own decisions about enforcing blue laws, leading every county except Bergen to gradually repeal the statute.
The county last held a referendum on its blue laws in 1993, when voters opted to keep the restrictions in place, according to the municipal clerk of Wyckoff.
