LI mall faces backlash after changing annual Christmas display

What was supposed to be a futuristic take on the Christmas holiday went terribly wrong. Roosevelt Field Mall's new Santa display lacked any Christmas decorations including a Christmas tree. And that didn't go over well with many shoppers, who started an online petition demanding the mall return the decorations ASAP..

“This is uncalled for and I'm totally against it” One man told us.

The display is called "Glacier" and mall officials say it's a uniquely modern and interactive Santa experience featuring cutting edge artistic design. But some shoppers say there is nothing Christmas about it. 

“It's a holiday season, it's supposed to bring you up and not down. And this is going to bring us down" one shopper said.

Jessica Rudin saw a photo on Facebook of the new display and quickly set up a petition online.

“We are supposed to be a tolerant society and this is kind of taking away something that people love about the season and it's going against the tolerance" Jessica said.

In less than 24 hours, the online petition she set up had over 1600 signatures and hundreds of comments not only from New York but, since Simon has dozens of malls across the US, there were comments all over social media from people in other states.

The social media black lash seemed to work because mall management sent us this statement which reads in part, “after hearing early customer feedback, one of those elements will be a traditional Christmas tree alongside the glacier experience.  Together, the mix of traditional and modern design will create a magical North Pole."

As of Sunday, the glacier display appears to have been completely taken down.