On a late November afternoon, just a few days before Black Friday, the Westland Shopping Center looked more like a scene from a dystopian movie than a mall nearing Christmas.
The more than 1 million-square-foot mall has many dark, permanently closed stores behind locked metal gates. The cavernous halls were dim and nearly devoid of shoppers, with just a few mall walkers in sight, including Jean and Howard Ward.
“This mall is probably 40% occupied, with 60% of the stores gone,” estimates Howard, a Garden City resident who has been coming to the mall for eight years with his wife. “Even Santa doesn’t have anybody.”…