Hundreds Attend Opening of Barnes & Noble in Wallkill

WALLKILL, N.Y.—Hundreds of book lovers, visitors, and local officials turned up at the Galleria at Crystal Run mall on Nov. 4 for the grand opening of the first Barnes & Noble bookstore in the Middletown area. Author Mary Beth Keane cut the ribbon before hosting a signing of her new novel “Whale Harbor.”

With nearly 19,000 square feet of space on the first floor of the mall, the store has a wide variety of books. It offers fantasy, history, romance, and manga, plus an extensive gift section with board games, Lego, and vinyls. There’s also a Starbucks with ample seating for customers to stop for refreshment, socialize, or get some work done.

With a nod to the community showing up in full force for the opening, Wallkill Supervisor Frank DenDanto III said a bookstore is the anchor of a community.

“[Barnes & Noble] speaks to the level of intellect and the level of access that all of our residents have,” he told The Epoch Times. “The fact that we haven’t had a bookstore for quite some time is a real heavy weight that has been lifted by the opening of this bookstore.

“There’s a line out the door and down the hallway in both directions. So it seems to me like the community is … very eager to reengage in this kind of pastime.”

The supervisor purchased a 2027 calendar of “The Helpless Doorknob: A Shuffled Story” by artist Edward Gorey.

He said that the new store will bring more visitors to the mall.

Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said the bookstore is a success for the county.

“It’s phenomenal. I remember when the prior bookstore, B. Dalton, probably a decade or so ago, was here. It’s great. Books are probably one of the most important things that we can do to continue to build and make ourselves resilient,” he told The Epoch Times.

Ashley Ottesen, an avid reader and mother of two, said she’s been excited for the arrival of Barnes & Noble and sees the establishment as a positive addition to the area.

“It helps build a sense of community,” Ottesen told The Epoch Times. “They have a cafe here … [people] can come in and share ideas if they want to just sit and write. If they don’t necessarily want to buy a book. Bookstores … are a wonderful pillar of a community and should be supported in every way.”

She picked up a few books to add to her collection, including “The Metamorphosis” by Franz Kafka, “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, and “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe.

“I am a huge science fiction fantasy reader, but I’m trying to broaden my horizons by getting some classics today,” Ottesen said.

She said she thinks the bookstore could bring back some of the old mall lifestyle.

“The mall was kind of like our go-to place to hang out when we didn’t have phones, right? And so it was kind of sad to see malls dying,” she said.

“Just seeing so many people coming to this opening kind of gives me hope that maybe we can bring back that community of mall walking and just physical in-person contact with people.”

Fred Stanford is a former Navy man from Dallas who works in Middletown as a transmission operator for Central Hudson.

Stanford said he is ecstatic about the bookstore.

“I feel like a Barnes & Noble has been really missing,” he said.

He uses the Middletown Thrall Library sometimes, and drives to the Barnes & Noble in Newburgh to buy new books. He said the new store cuts a 30-minute journey to just five or so minutes down the road.

“We do have the local library in downtown Middletown, but it’s nice to actually own your own set of books,” he said.

Stanford said he doesn’t stick to a particular genre and that his No. 1 book is “East of Eden.” He has recently enjoyed reading the Harry Potter, Dungeon Crawler Carl, and Red Rising series.

Keane told The Epoch Times that the new Barnes & Noble seems like it was a needed addition to the area.

“So many people showed up, and they’re so excited. You could feel it in the room,” she said. “A bookstore always adds some sort of vibrancy and a center to be [able] to stay and browse. … It’s only added value to a community.”