Officials in one New Jersey town have sued the massive American Dream mall for breaking a county law forbidding the sale of nonessential items such as clothing and furniture on Sundays.
Filed on Monday against the owners of the mall, the suit by Paramus officials alleges that the mall’s 100+ retail stores have been open on Sunday in violation of Bergen County’s “Blue Laws,” according to NJ.com.
“These businesses with the encouragement and support of the mall’s ownership and the acquiescence of the other defendants here, have violated the law hundreds if not thousands of times since January,” the suit reads.
According to Patch.com, these “Blue Laws” were enacted by New Jersey in 1798, though each county was left to decide whether or not to enforce them.
A Mega-Mall in NJ is being sued for operating on Sundays.
The Borough of Paramus is suing the American Dream Mall for violating Bergen County’s historic “blue laws” by opening retail stores on Sundays.
Built on state-owned land, the mall claims it’s exempt, but officials say… pic.twitter.com/QptmucnOv4
— Straight Arrow News (@StraightArrow__) August 29, 2025
The lawsuit notes that in 1980, voters in Bergen County — where the mall is located — voted in a referendum to maintain the county’s “Blue Laws.”
The laws have been voted on over and over again.
“While most New Jersey counties no longer have them, leaders in Bergen County have repeatedly resisted attempts to repeal them, and the measures — which do exempt some services, including grocery and drug stores — have been upheld by county voters,” the Associated Press notes.
A spokesperson for American Dream has meanwhile dismissed the suit as “a meritless political stunt driven by private competitors’ interests.”
“It is well established that Bergen County’s Blue Laws do not apply to property owned by the state — American Dream is on state property where retail sales have occurred on Sundays for decades,” the spokesperson said. “We look forward to our day in court.”
NEW JERSEY: American Dream mall is being sued for allegedly violating Bergen County’s long standing blue laws by allowing Sunday clothing sales. The mall argues the ban doesn’t apply on state-owned property. pic.twitter.com/xydcSp7D3i
— KolHaolam (@KolHaolam) August 29, 2025
However, according to the AP, Paramus Mayor Christopher DiPiazza said that American Dream had “promised on record” to follow the county’s laws once it opened.
Similarly, Jim Tedesco, the executive of Bergen County, said that the mall’s operators had “personally assured” him that they’d abide by the laws.
“They broke that promise,” he added. “Their decision to operate retail on Sundays not only violates state statute, it gives them an unfair advantage over every other business in Bergen County that is following the law.”
Patch.com notes that the other malls in the area — Garden State Plaza and the Paramus Park Mall — “have closed on Sunday for decades.”
Jay Costa, a candidate for the Bergen County Board of Commissioners, has claimed that local Democrats want to get rid of the laws:
Want 7 days of non-stop traffic in Bergen County? Then vote for my opponents, because the Bergen County Democrats will GET RID OF Bergen County Blue Laws!
Don’t believe me? American Dream Mall has been disregarding and violating our blue laws for months and what is the Bergen… pic.twitter.com/NbmRZPI7q5
— Jay Costa (@JayCostaUSA) July 28, 2025
One notable proponent of “Blue Laws” is Vice President J.D. Vance. Writing for The American Mind in 2020, he pointed to research showing that “blue laws” increased church attendance.
“Research by Jonathan Gruber has found that state ‘blue laws’—laws that force businesses to close on Sunday—increase church attendance,” he wrote. “Aside from spiritual benefits, Robert Putnam has chronicled how church attendance is actually a positive social good for many attendees.”
“While we might praise the meritorious worker who finds his way to church despite working a 12-hour shift on Sunday, the average traditionalist will (correctly) want to make a life of virtue easier, and not harder. So close the damn businesses on Sunday. Commercial freedom will suffer. Moral behavior will not, and our society will be much the better for it,” he added.
“The virus has revealed an American economy built on consumption, reliant for production on regimes either indifferent or actively hostile to our national interest.”
@JDVance1 explains: https://t.co/NYTuHdrKlb
— The American Mind (@theammind) June 2, 2021
“These sorts of tradeoffs—between the freedom of the commercial space and the values of traditionalists—are common, though we might not realize it because we so often defer to commerce,” Vance concluded.
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Author: Vivek Saxena
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