Mohawk Commons

Dreary modern strip mall that I patronize all the time because that’s what we do in modern life. Go where the stuff is.
The site was formerly an indoor Mall, also called Mohawk Mall, and before that the Stanford Heights golf course, and before that part of the historic Duncan-​Schuyler-​Stanford farm (the old Stanford mansion was gutted and moved when ‘Mansion Square’ across the street was added to this mess). It’s also the site of one of the northernmost original fingers of the pine bush. So the atrocities that have been heaped upon this site have been many and over a long, long period.
Traffic control here is a little weird and they’re always late on fixing potholes after the winter, so be extra cautious coming in from the main entrance. Better yet is to sneak in via the back entrance off Consaul, opposite the (relocated) Ingersoll home, with the soon to be closed Oswald Heck center on your right as you come in, facing the back of Bed Bath and Beyond.
In any event, here’s what’s here now: to your left as you come in from Balltown (see my individual reviews for almost everything here, sadly): Visionworks and Five Guys, Price Chopper and Marshall’s, Bed Bath and Beyond, a shoe store, Target, and a Taco Bell; in front, Party City, Ruby Tuesday’s, and Lowe’s; to your right, a video game store, Panera, a Chinese takout place, three cell phone stores, SuperCuts, Eastern Mountain Sports, PetSmart, Old Navy, and newly replacing Barnes and Noble, a Gap and some store catering to young people I’ve never heard of before (Styla? something like that). It’s your usual mix of anchor (grocery, discount department, and home improvement) stores, a few services, fast– to fast-​casual restaurants, and other suppliers of the stuff of daily ephemeral needs.
For this, we sacrificed our natural history, the cultural history of three countries, open space, and a nice indoor mall where at least you didn’t freeze once you got in.
Progress, I tells ya, Progress.

This place used to be known as Mohawk Mall, and as a mall I liked it much better. It was a typical 70’s enclosed mall with some really nice touches like ponds and gardens with little footbridges. When I first came to this area it was a four or five star outfit. There was a great sit-​down restaurant, a good supermarket, and all kinds of stores, most of which no longer even exist. Somewhere along the line Schenectady County implemented an optional county-​wide sales tax. When I first
came the only tax was the 4% NY State, so everyone would flock here to buy big-​ticket things like TV’s, VCR’s expensive clothes, etc. Around
the same time Crossgates opened. The two of these dealt Mohawk Mall a death blow and over a period of years it declined to the point where stores relocated or went bust. Some were whole chains like
Bradlees, Boston Store, and Wards. The supermarket became an
art or office supply store (so much for also doing your grocery shopping!!!). Eventually the bulldozers and jackhammers took care
of the deteriorated shell. You can look at the depressing details at
! Then they came in and built a whold bunch
of stand-​alone stores!!! I don’t understand why such a design is even
considered in this part of the country with the type of weather we get
here. I would feel an enclosed mall would be far more appealing
where you could park your car once and then walk in air conditioned or heated comfort to your favorite store. Now you either have to hike
all over the joint in whatever is going on outside or constantly move
your car from one parking area to another. With gas at $ 2 a gallon,
maybe!!! At $ 4+ a gallon forget it! I’ve noticed a number of former
Mohawk Mall stores at Rotterdam Square. Yes, the new bookstore
is nice, but it would have been just as nice, if not nicer, in an enclosed
mall, provided parking arrangements were reasonable.