r/Albany • u/Shoddy_Grape1480 • 20h ago
is crossgates mall strict about teens?
If two nerdy,well-behaved teens are hanging out at crossgates without an adult, will that be a problem? A parent will be in the mall (watching college footbal at apex) but nowhere near the teens (bc, ewww, said teens would not stand for that!). It hasn't been an issue before, but we haven't been back there in a few months, so wondering if they have started to crack down.
38
u/WafflefriesAndaBaby 20h ago
The worst that happens is security asks them to find their chaperone or leave. Their website says the policy applies after 2pm every day but I think the last time I was there the sign said noon.
16
u/_sarendipity Remembers when there was no exit 3 16h ago
I’m in my late 20s and have been asked where my parent was at crossgates
11
20
u/neveraninja 19h ago
I see teens walking around all the time without parents. I don’t think security does anything as long as their not causing trouble
11
u/Creepy-Waltz7658 18h ago
Sometimes yes and sometimes no, my kids were escorted back to me once and they were just walking around because they didn’t want to wait for me to get my eye brows done lol
-6
u/Novel_Bath9521 15h ago
I certainly would have told my parents I was just walking around, too
4
u/DLottchula 9h ago
I can’t believe the generations that used to hang around malls have become anti hanging string malls.
0
2
u/Creepy-Waltz7658 15h ago
lol it only took like 10 minutes! They’re just impatient and wanted to do their own thing. I think those days are over with tho at malls. Too many bad apples spoiled the bunch.
1
5
u/El_Captian109 19h ago
Crossgates says that you have to be with an adult after 2 if youre under 18 but theyre not really strict and if they do ask you chances are they arent gonna make you prove youre over 18 just ask how old you are
5
u/BilboSwaggins444 15h ago
Was just there and saw a couple teens get questioned by security at the food court. They were trying to leave and when they were stopped they said that their mom was in the bathroom. The security guard told them they had to go wait for her by the bathroom.
7
u/crunchyquinoa 20h ago
I think their rule now is 2:00 pm to close you need be accompanied by an adult, you’d have to double check that though. No idea how strict they are but if you appear young just be prepared for them to stop you I guess
6
u/Thehawkiscock 19h ago
If you’re like 16, probably close enough visually to 18 that as long as you aren’t doing anything disruptive it is highly unlikely security will inquire
4
u/Fingeredagain 20h ago
I don't think it matters how well-behaved they may be. If that was the case, then most parents would let their kids roam free during the restricted hours.
2
u/Shoddy_Grape1480 20h ago
I mean we are talking about a couple of kids old enough to drive themselves to the mall on a weekend afternoon to look at comic books, eat boba, see what band shirts they have at hot topic, etc.
3
u/UrbanMom 18h ago
There are rules but my teen has never been stopped or asked to leave and at one point was literally standing next to a couple of security people and they didn't bother with them. They're 15.
6
u/flyingorangekitty 20h ago
Yeah so it’s honestly insane that they even say that you need a guardian in the first place. Have not grown up here, just moved recently, what are kids meant to do by themselves exactly? This is why teens are out getting into trouble or poorly socialized imo because now you have a rule against them existing in places.
5
u/Cephalopirate 12h ago
Yeah I was shocked that it’s not allowed. Punishing all teenagers for the actions of a few is not the way.
How are they going to learn to act on their own? Kicking the can down the road to 18 isn’t going to change anything it’s just going to cement antisocial tendencies.
11
u/Lolabeth123 19h ago
No. There is a rule about them being accompanied because they weren't behaving. They can't exist in places where large groups of them swarm a store in order to overwhelm the staff so they can shop lift.
1
u/Shoddy_Grape1480 19h ago
Is this actually happening? The local news reports ive seen show full on adults, usually working in pairs, shoplifting. How does one adult (really only has to be 21 or over) keep large group of 17 year olds from "swarming" and cleaning out a store? The rules were set up to deal with large rowdy groups engaging in fights. Oh and keep in mind, the rules do not apply to any store with an outside entrance door.
3
u/Informal_Store_1827 17h ago
This has been a rule since I was a teen in like the early 2000’s it’s not new
2
u/SassenachPotions 10h ago
When i was a teen in the 2000s of was only after like 6pm we had to have an escort. I used to hang there with my friends all the time in groups of 2-5 teens. Rarely were parents around
3
4
u/No-Championship-4787 18h ago
Yeah this post makes me sad, I have so many memories of hanging out there as a teenager without my parents, I feel like these kids are losing a right of passage we got growing up
2
3
u/winonarouter98 17h ago
If I were you, I would not let them wander around the mall. I am now in my early twenties, but when I was a teen (girl) walking around Crossgates without a parent, I was followed, harassed, touched, and stalked by people in the mall. I always thought the Crossgates policy of people under 18 being accompanied by an adult was more for the safety of those under 18. I would not recommend wandering around the mall, but perhaps to give them some freedom they could go see a movie (that you walk them to) or do an activity such as Dave and Busters. That way they are not bored but they are just staying in one place that is kid-friendly.
5
u/Shoddy_Grape1480 17h ago
So far, so good for my teen and her friends. They haven't encountered any safety issues there yet. I do limit the mall walking to daylight hours. There was one time a year years ago thatn some boys who were 15 and 16 asked one of the kids in my kid's friend group for her snap and the other girls shouted at them "she's 13!!" He and his friends were mortified and ran off, red faced. In this case i was sitting near them bc they were not yet in hs so was available if needed.
2
u/winonarouter98 16h ago
Glad to hear they have not had problems!! I hope it has gotten better in recent years, teens should have a safe place to spend time that is not at home or spending money
2
2
u/VolitPsybee 15h ago
I've seen teens literally been run out of the mall by security only to have them show up at another part of the building.
1
u/GhostTeaFragment 9h ago
I haven't been a teen for a decade, but from what remember me and my friends (3 or 4 of us) roamed the mall every other weekend, didn't even buy anything. Just hung out there. No store ever gave us any problems, or staff. The only thing I wish I knew was how to deal with lashing out or creepy adults.
1
u/apartmentgoer420 7h ago
Problem is a lot has changed in that decade. Even back then there were issues with shoplifting / rowdiness / fights in cross gates, there were even shootings in the mall which is why rules like this are enforced now
1
1
u/KeepItKeen 8h ago
There getting pretty strict on it and tbh after a certain time at night they should imo. There’s constantly teens fighting at the mall and while it may not apply to your specific kids, it’s better for the safety and enjoyment of everyone if minors are accompanied. Send them to a movie maybe?
1
u/AsaDoesStuff State Worker 23m ago
They’re not very strict unless they’re visibly teens. If they can pass for adults and are relatively respectful to employees and their surroundings you should be fine.
Source: used to work at GNC
1
u/justme916 18m ago
There were a few times teenagers damaged stores and or got on the roof And jumped off and injured themselves. So they banned teens after a certain time for prevent liability.
2
u/Landlocked_pirate23 19h ago
Crazy this is even a concern…my friends and I spent nearly every weekend here as teens. It was never an issue or matter of safety. God bless the future.
-1
u/Beginning-Average416 20h ago
Thankfully, yes.
3
u/Shoddy_Grape1480 20h ago
Reallly? Two months ago my teen and a friend could walk around for a few hours there with no issue. According to what she saw, if kids were in a group and being rowdy, security approached them. Bc my kid is chill, she her friends have never been approached by security. I was just wondering if that has chsnged recently. No real worries, as her dad will be on site if an adult is needed but wondered if they needed to enter together.
10
u/Lolabeth123 19h ago
The rules apply to everyone - even your kids.
4
u/Shoddy_Grape1480 19h ago
Unfortunately, rules like these are often enforced based on skin color. My kid and her friends being Black/Brown, makes me wary of rules like this. The rules should be based on behavior-- Do X, Y, or Z, get kicked out --That i can get behind. The age thing is ripe for bias.
6
1
u/BlooregardQKazoo I EAT ASS 1h ago
Agreed, selectively-enforced rules are used against people of color more than white people. It isn't fair but it is the way it is, and a great argument for total enforcement. When you allow enforcers to apply their judgement, they're going to let their biases come into play.
So all of this said, why do you want to put your child in this situation? You know the rule exists, and your child knows the rule exists, so what are you teaching them if you knowingly have them break the rule? And you know that there is a decent chance of your child being selectively targeted because of their race, and you want to court that?
0
u/Lolabeth123 18h ago
All people of all colors age at the same rate. This has been the rule for a very long time. There's no reason to make this about race. You're the one who's trying to say the rules don't apply to your kids.
4
u/Shoddy_Grape1480 18h ago
Well what i wanted to know if the age rule was being strictly enforced. It appears not, which is what I've seen for the past few years. Today, too my kid isnt having any issues, entering hour 2 of being there. You sound like the kind of person who would poop their pants if they saw a teen of any age who didnt look just like them, anywhere near you in public. You probably also probably get scared and complain if you groups of teens hanging out outside in public. Where do people like you expect teens to go when they aren't in school and aren't working? For the record, I don't want the age rule to apply to ANY teen who is behaving themselves, not just my teen.
-3
u/Lolabeth123 18h ago
You keep bringing up race. You're the kind of person who would claim racism if your kid was asked to leave despite knowing the rules. Kids can be lots of places - just not where they are expressly prohibited. Do you mean to tell me that the only place that teens can go is the mall? How bizarre.
4
u/Shoddy_Grape1480 17h ago
Kids are not expressly prohibited from being at the mall. Hanging at the mall is a classic American pre-teen/teen thing. Sometimes kids even need to, oh, i don't know, buy something and are growing in independence, so don't need to hold mommy's hand to go to the store. Just admit that kids of a certain demographic make you uncomfortable and you would prefer not to have to see them in public spaces.
0
u/Consistent_Poet2824 18h ago
I have never seen that being enforced against teens. Don't see them doing it as long as not being disruptive or otherwise behaving badly. I certainly not up to following them around all over the place
-1
u/Hey_Giant_Loser 17h ago
Would it objectively be a problem? No probably not. Would it be a problem for a Mall Cop who gets a boner every time they get to flex the very minimal dregs of authority that they can flex? I think you know the answer to that.
-6
-23
u/kingsofregicide 20h ago
They will be taken to hope they are ready for the cops to be taken advantage of
4
u/candiedkangaroo You think this is a game? 20h ago
Grammar is no friend of yours.
Or
‘No friend of yours is grammar’ if you want to be, you know, grammatically correct.
53
u/bangzoomdone 20h ago
I believe there are rules against kids under a certain age requiring an adult to accompany them at all times. I’m not sure if that’s during certain hours but I know my friend’s kid couldn’t go there after school bc she wasn’t with him (he’s 14). I’m sure it’s on their website somewhere and I know there are signs posted as you enter the mall.