Destiny USA owner takes issue with HVAC concerns keeping malls closed

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Destiny USA operator Pyramid Management Group is taking exception to the notion that shopping center heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems recirculate the coronavirus more than systems in other indoor venues that have been allowed to reopen.

In a statement released Thursday, Pyramid contends that any reporting suggesting the possibility “is simply false.” The statement comes after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday that malls couldn’t reopen in phase four of the state’s regional reopening because more time is needed to study the role of air-conditioning systems in possibly recirculating the virus.

“While we can appreciate the state’s concern about the public’s health and safety, any reporting that suggests that HVAC systems within enclosed shopping centers are more likely to distribute the virus than HVAC systems within restaurants, barber shops, office buildings, museums and freestanding retailers already open like Target, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx (and others) is simply false,” the statement read.

Destiny USA and its interior tenants thought they were going to be able to resume operations as part of phase three of New York’s economic reopening process, and then when that didn’t happen, they expected the green light in phase four. But the state this week announced that malls, movie theaters, and gyms would again have to wait as other phase four attractions like museums and zoos proceed. And the affected businesses aren’t happy about it.

For his part, the governor says more study is needed.

“We are continuing to study malls, movie theaters, and gyms. There’s new information that comes out on this virus every day and anyone who thinks this is a static situation is wrong. So we are continuing to study the most recent developments. We’re looking at what happened in other states. There are some reports that malls, bars, certain social clubs with air conditioning that air conditioning may not be cleansing the air of the virus and just recirculating the virus. So we are studying that and as soon as we get some more information we will make an informed decision,” Cuomo said Wednesday.

In its statement, Pyramid Management Group contends the quality of overall air circulation in its shopping centers, “which also benefit from considerable open and airy corridors, is as good or better than those venues that have been allowed to re-open.”

The Destiny USA owner also stipulates that “numerous” health and safety experts support the view that enclosed shopping centers present “no greater risk” of spreading the virus through their HVAC systems than standalone, freestanding retailers’ locations.

“If anything, the relative risk within our airy, enclosed malls may in fact be lower as we have done more than is necessary based on health and safety recommendations to improve the existing air filtration systems within our shopping centers to bolster the quality of airflow within our centers,” Pyramid Management Group said.

Citing experts in article

The mall operator cited the comments of medical professionals in an article on the website of Healthline, which covers health news.

“So far, so-called airborne transmission by some sort of air conditioning unit really has been reported only once and I think is likely to be a very odd event,” Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said in the article.

“People have been going to pharmacies and grocery stores and liquor stores and other venues for some time now. We’ve had no reports here in the United States of infection related to a single source that could be attributed to air conditioning,” Schaffner told Healthline.

“What will be important for restaurants is that the wait staff wear masks and attend to good hand hygiene,” Schaffner said. “And that they disinfect surfaces between patrons.”