American Dream Lawsuit: Sunday Shopping, Bonds, and Injuries

The American Dream mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is tangled in dozens of active lawsuits — by one Rutgers count, at least 82 involving the mall, its developer Ameream, and parent Triple Five Group.¹ The American Dream mall lawsuits fall into four main groups: a fight with the borough of Paramus over Sunday retail, bondholder and property-tax disputes tied to the mall’s collapsing valuation, unpaid construction bills from the general contractor and subcontractors, and personal injury claims from patrons hurt at the mall’s attractions. Behind all of them sits a $5 billion project that lost $245 million in 2022 and continues to struggle with debt, vacancies, and disagreement over what the property is actually worth.

Paramus vs. American Dream Over Sunday Shopping

In August 2025, the borough of Paramus sued in New Jersey Superior Court in Bergen County, naming Ameream, Bergen County, the borough of East Rutherford, and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority as defendants.² The suit alleges American Dream is violating Bergen County’s colonial-era “blue laws,” which ban Sunday sales of clothing, furniture, appliances, and building materials. It seeks fines of up to $5,000 per violation under the 1798 “Act to Suppress Vice and Immorality.”³

When the mall opened in 2019, operators publicly committed to keeping retail closed on Sundays. By 2024, more than 120 retail tenants were operating on Sundays.⁴

The developer’s defense is jurisdictional. The mall sits on state-owned land leased through the NJSEA, and Ameream argues that placement puts it beyond Bergen County’s reach.⁵ The NJSEA has argued enforcing county blue laws is not within its jurisdiction and that its lease with the mall does not obligate it to do so.⁶ Bergen County has moved to be dismissed, saying it supports the Sunday ban but lacks the power to enforce the laws.⁷ East Rutherford has also sought dismissal, arguing Paramus is trying to pull it in “by implication and proximity alone.”

Paramus is asking for a court order shutting down Sunday retail, not damages. As of mid-2026 the case remained before a Bergen County judge with no ruling on the merits, no injunction, and no settlement.⁷

The Bondholder Suit Over a Shrinking Property Value

American Dream is financed partly through $800 million in tax-exempt municipal bonds issued in 2017 by the Public Finance Authority. A Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement requires the developer to pay 90% of what property taxes would otherwise be, and those PILOT payments service the bonds. Annual interest on the bonds runs $54.1 million.⁸

The assessed value has been dropping. Historically the property was valued between $2.6 billion and $3.3 billion. In early 2025, East Rutherford lowered the assessment to $2.5 billion after replacing its longtime appraiser. In July 2025, New Jersey Tax Court Judge Michael Gilmore cut it further to roughly $1.65 billion, an $850 million reduction in a single ruling.⁹ At that valuation, PILOT payments come to about $24 million a year — less than half of what bondholders are owed.⁸

In February 2026, U.S. Bank Trust Company, acting as trustee for the bondholders, filed a breach-of-contract suit in Bergen County Superior Court against Ameream and East Rutherford. The suit alleges the developer and the borough worked together to artificially depress the mall’s value, including by appointing a less qualified appraiser, omitting revenue from the observation wheel, and applying “one-sided” adjustments in the 2025 appraisal.¹⁰ The bondholders want a court order preventing Ameream from influencing the borough’s assessment process going forward.¹¹

Nuveen, the investment arm of TIAA, holds roughly 90% of the PILOT bonds and has driven the litigation. A Nuveen spokesperson called the 2025 appraisal process “deeply flawed.”¹² Triple Five called the lawsuit a “deceptive attempt to pressure public institutions,” saying the valuation came from a lawful judicial process.¹⁰ The bond reserve had less than $2.4 million left after a $26.7 million transfer to cover a December interest payment.¹³

East Rutherford’s Case for Back Payments

East Rutherford sued Ameream in 2023 over the developer’s failure to make any PILOT payments since opening. Triple Five had argued payments were only required once the mall was fully occupied. In March 2025, a Bergen County judge rejected that reading, ruled the PILOT agreement was unambiguous, and ordered $13 million in back payments to East Rutherford and to Carlstadt, Little Ferry, Lyndhurst, Rutherford, Moonachie, North Bergen, and Secaucus.¹⁴ East Rutherford officials have also said the mall owes $400,000 in unpaid sewer fees.¹⁵

Ameream’s $183 Million Refund Claim

Ameream has pushed back the other way. The developer says it overpaid property taxes by $183 million and is seeking a refund from East Rutherford, having filed property tax appeals every year since 2019. The claim surfaced in court documents in November 2024.16 In an August 2025 ruling, the Tax Court found the mall had been “overvalued by hundreds of millions of dollars” but left open whether refunds from prior years could actually be recovered from the bond trustee, or whether payments already sent to bondholders made those appeals moot.¹⁷

Unpaid Construction Bills

Contractor claims have shadowed the mall for years. In February 2021, general contractor PCL Construction Services filed a $24 million construction lien, noting it had been paid $1.9 billion of a contract exceeding $2 billion. More than 40 subcontractors filed liens of their own.¹⁸ Triple Five attributed the shortfall to a “significant cash flow crisis” from COVID-19 restrictions.

In June 2023, PCL escalated by suing JPMorgan Chase in the Southern District of New York, seeking more than $30 million: $24 million in unpaid invoices from 2020 and 2021, plus over $7 million in interest. PCL’s theory is that JPMorgan, as agent for the construction loan, became responsible for payment once the developer defaulted. Ameream then claimed retroactively that the work was defective, which PCL called a “ruse to avoid paying.”¹⁹ As of mid-2025 the case was still active in federal court with no ruling on the merits and the initial pretrial conference adjourned indefinitely.²⁰

Subcontractor suits followed. New Jersey Boom and Erectors sued Triple Five, Ameream, and Phoenix Diversified in New Jersey Superior Court seeking $1.6 million for work on the mall’s 1,400-seat Cinemex theater, saying it had been paid $2.4 million of a contract exceeding $4 million.¹⁸ Many liens have reportedly been paid, but substantial claims remain.

Personal Injury Suits From the Mall’s Attractions

In February 2023, a two-ton decorative helicopter fell from the ceiling of the DreamWorks Water Park and injured four guests. A state investigation blamed damaged wiring securing the helicopter.²¹ Four separate patrons filed injury lawsuits against the mall.²²

Other injury claims involve the “Dream Riders,” waist-high motorized stuffed animal rides that visitors drive through the facility. Three patrons have sued. In one case, an elderly woman required spinal surgery after being struck, alleging the mall failed to separate the motorized animals from pedestrian traffic or supervise the children operating them. A March 2025 suit alleges a patron suffered “serious and permanent” injuries on the Jungle Jammer waterslide in April 2024.²²

The helicopter collapse also produced a suit by the mall itself. In May 2025, Ameream sued five insurance companies in Bergen County Superior Court, claiming $20.5 million for property damage, business interruption, lost revenue, and legal fees. The insurers had offered $1.6 million, arguing the policy’s liability period only covered the one-week closure of the water park.²³

Missed Payments on the Grant Revenue Bonds

Beyond the PILOT bonds, a separate $287 million tranche of limited-obligation grant revenue bonds was issued as part of roughly $1.1 billion in total municipal debt. These bonds are backed by New Jersey economic development grants tied to the mall’s sales tax collections. As of February 2026, the project had missed four consecutive semi-annual interest payments on this debt. The delays trace to New Jersey’s pending certification of a “project cost statement” required before grant funds can be released. The state’s Economic Development Authority approved the statement, but payment was still pending in early 2026.²⁴

1
Rutgers Center for Urban Policy Research. American Dream Lawsuits: How, Why, Compare Other Malls
2
New York Times. American Dream Mall Blue Laws
3
NJBIA. Paramus Sues American Dream for Disregarding Blue Laws
4
NorthJersey.com. NJ Blue Laws American Dream Mall Pushback
5
The Ridgewood Blog. American Dream Mall Pushes Exemption From Blue Laws
6
Chain Store Age. New Jersey Backs American Dream’s Sunday Shopping Hours
7
NJ Spotlight News. Bergen County’s No Retail on Sundays Blue Laws Face Test in Court
8
Bond Buyer. American Dream Mall’s Court Victory a Blow to Bondholders
9
The Ridgewood Blog. American Dream Wins $850M Property Value Cut in Tax Court Ruling
10
CoStar. Bondholders Sue American Dream Saying Lower Assessment Imperils Their Repayment
11
Bisnow. Bondholders Sue American Dream Over Plummeting Valuation
12
Fidelity Fixed Income. Nuveen American Dream PILOT Bonds
13
Fidelity Fixed Income. American Dream PILOT Bonds
14
Rockland County Business Journal. American Dream Ordered to Make PILOT Payments
15
Bond Buyer. American Dream Mall’s Court Victory a Blow to Bondholders
16
Rutgers Center for Urban Policy Research. American Dream Mall Says East Rutherford Owes It $183M
17
Pullman & Comley. Impact of PILOT Agreement on Tax Appeal Refunds
18
ENR. Owner of NJ’s American Dream Mall Faces Loan Default, Construction Liens
19
Construction Dive. PCL Sues JPMorgan Chase $30M Unpaid Bills American Dream Mall
20
CourtListener. PCL Construction Services Inc v JP Morgan Chase Bank NA
21
The Ridgewood Blog. American Dream Sues Insurers Over $20.5M Loss From Water Park Helicopter Collapse
22
NorthJersey.com. American Dream Mall Water Park NJ Lawsuit
23
NJ.com. American Dream Says Decorative Helicopter Crash Cost Mall $20.5M
24
Bloomberg Law. NJ Grant-Backed Bonds for American Dream Miss February Payment