Is Crossgates a Dead Mall? YouTuber Investigates To Find Out

Since 1984 Crossgates Mall has been a staple location in the Capital Region for people to hangout, shop, eat, and get some entertainment. While a lot of it has changed in 2026 there are still glimpses of the old mall that we all grew up going to. I was actually shocked to learn that there was a general consensus that Crossgates was a "dead mall."

I don't exactly know who started that rumor, but this is not a dead mall, at least not from how I look at it. I think like any other mall in the country there are rotating stores that come and go quickly, but the flagship stores remain strong and unchanged.  Macy's and JCPenney have been there for years, as well as Dick's Sporting Goods. While locations of some stores gave changed, there's still so much to love about this mall.

Fleabitten Adventures, who has over 64,000 subscribers on YouTube, takes tours of malls around the Northeast. He made a video on Crossgates the investigate the online claims that Crossgates was a dead mall.

Is this a dead mall?

Much like myself, he did not find it to be a dead mall at all. As he was approaching the mall at the very beginning he was already dispelling those claims. I am going to assume that it all started on Reddit.

He even mentions that if he were a resident of the Capital Region he would visit Crossgates more often. I can't blame him. I've been to malls in other parts of the country and Crossgates is one of the nicer and better ones.
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I think the rumor of it being "dead" has come from the pandemic years. Sure, people were staying clear of the mall for a while but as someone who visits it daily, there are plently of people patronizing it every day.