American Dream Meadowlands, the taxpayer-backed reincarnation of the gargantuan mall (4.8 million square feet!) once known as Xanadu (like that fabulous 1980 movie!) won't be finished in time to complement the 2014 Super Bowl at nearby Met-Life Stadium.
Responding to a reporter's question Wednesday, N.J. Governor Chris Christie said some of the $4 billion Dream may be "open or usuable" by kickoff, but added, "obviously, we're running out of time."
Triple Five, the Canadian developer Christie's administration persuaded, with $200 million in state tax credits, to take over the stalled mall/moneypit in 2010, claims the job is 80 percent complete. But the developer has filed suit against the Jets and Giants football organizations, accusing them of breaching an earlier agreement that enabled the project to proceed.
Those tempted to pooh-pooh Xanadu (now Dream) should bear in mind Xanadu (the movie), in which Olivia-Newton John plays a superrnatural being who inspires an artist to realize his dreams in a gargantuan roller-disco -- which looks alarmingly like some of the renderings for American Dream Meadowlands.