Zocalo: A Diamond Amidst the Rubble of the Ithaca Mall
Desolate, depressing and deprived of customers are just three adjectives to describe the current state of the Ithaca Mall. With the rise of internet transactions, the Ithaca Mall slowly began its decline from mediocrity into a full-fledged embarrassment to Ithaca. The COVID-19 pandemic has only made the emptiness and despair of the mall become even more pronounced.
Many Cornell students probably just know the Ithaca Mall for Target and maybe the Regal Cinema movie theater. Only the brave few wander into the underdeveloped center of the mall where dark, vacated stores outnumber thriving ones by a great magnitude. The food court is no exception. In the center of the mall, in a space that should be the beating heart of the mall’s lifeline, lies the grubby and dimly lit remnants of a once popular food court. All that remains now is a Sicilian Delight pizza joint, a Subway and an Auntie Annes, the latter of which only serves food that is best considered a snack. However, despite the darkness and dinginess of the mall, to the right of the abyss of the foodcourt lies a warmly lit establishment, a promising beacon of hope: Zocalo.
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