Long, empty hallways are not the kind of thing Mike Kauffman is used to seeing inside his mall.

“Very strange. This is a place that should have a lot of people in it,” he said.

Kauffman is the general manager at Eastview Mall.

“When we closed up at the end of the day on March 19, almost every store just locked up and left,” he said. “Basically, if you walked in right now, it would look just like it did on March 19th.”

He’s one of the only people who has been inside since mid-March. St. Patrick’s Day signs still hang in some stores.

“It’s very strange and very unnatural to come on the property in the morning or drive around the property when there are almost no cars on the property,” he said.

Kauffman says, for the first five weeks of being closed, not much happened. But now, as talks of reopening parts of New York state continue to gain momentum, he says the mall’s management has already gotten to work.

Last week, they submitted a plan to Governor Cuomo’s office.

“That focuses on very stringent cleaning procedures, employee protocols,” he said. “When someone comes into work, we need to make sure they are healthy and not running a temperature. Also, lots of signage and reminders of social distancing and wearing masks.”

Shopping centers like Eastview Mall likely won’t be eligible for reopening until phase two of the Governor’s plan. The soonest that can happen is two weeks after phase one is implemented on the target date of May 15th. Kauffman says they’ll be ready, but things will likely be different.

The specifics are still being worked out, but masks may be required for employees and customers. Social distancing, to some capacity, will be enforced.

“I think the sanitizing, while always important here, it’s really raised the level and importance in our minds,” said Kauffman.

— 13 WHAM