Demolition continued on the Cerro Wire site in Syosset this week when the water tower came down on Tuesday, joining the rest of the structures that were demolished over the past few months.

In March, the Taubman Company applied for and was granted a demolition permit by the Town of Oyster Bay, which allowed Taubman to demolish all structures on the 39-acre Cerro Wire site in Syosset where they proposed to build a 860,000 square foot mall - a case currently being decided by the courts.

The 150-foot tower came down a few minutes after noon to the cheers of the union workers present on the Syosset property.

"The era of Cerro Wire is over," Mark Bulmash, the Taubman Company's group vice president for development, said at a press conference held on the Cerro Site on Tuesday. "There is no better place to build an upscale fashion center - a premier fashion center... I say to you [Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor] Mr. Venditto, we can do this through the courts or we can do this together. I say we do it together."

According to Taubman's website, the Cerro Wire and Cable Company built its metal manufacturing facility in the early 1950's, creating electrical conduit, hot-rolled copper rod and steel strip. Cerro terminated its activities on the property in 1986 and removed the metal hydroxide left on the site shortly after they ceased operations and the Tribune Company purchased the site in 1990 with the intent of building a Long Island printing facility for Tribune Company's newspaper, The New York Daily News. When The Daily News was sold, any further plans to use the site as an industrial facility were dropped. Then the plans for the Mall at Oyster Bay were constructed and brought to the Town of Oyster Bay to apply for a Special Use Permit.

Town of Oyster Bay Councilman Anthony Macagnone, the lone town board member to vote in favor of the project, was in attendance for the event. "I am happy to see this eyesore gone," he said. "The property looks great now that it is cleared. Gramercy did a wonderful job. I talked to some local residents and they are excited that the demolition happened. Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto along with myself and the rest of the board pushed the demolition through and we got a lot of people working this summer so that is really great."

Bulmash is seeing past the demolition and visioning the upscale shopping center the Taubman Company plans to build on the site, a mall that would include two anchors stores - Lord & Taylor and Neiman Marcus.

"We are trying to create a mix of fabulous retailers and make a world-class shopping center," said Bulmash. "The conclusion of the demolition marked by the dropping of the water tower is a historic milestone toward achieving our goal."

According to Bulmash, the decision of whether the mall will get built is still in the court's hands. He estimated that the Appellate Division would hear the case in October and make a decision 30 - 60 days after that.

"We are glad that the demolition is going safely and we are happy to see that eyesore disappear," said Todd Fabricant, chairman of the Cerro Wire Coalition, a group of 26 civic groups opposed to the development of the mall. "This doesn't change the fact that we are opposed to this project. This is still in the court's hands and this doesn't mean that the mall is going to get built. This is not a done deal and we still stand united against the proposed project."

Union workers, who also completed the demolition, are waiting anxiously for the courts to make a decision and demand that the town issue a building permit as the construction would be done by union workers, according to Bulmash.

"Our members see that destruction of the water tower as proof positive that economic help is on the way," said Jack Kennedy of the Nassau Suffolk Building Trades, an umbrella organization that represents some 30,000 working families across Long Island. "There have been six court decisions that have said this property deserves to get the face lift proposed by Taubman. We support Taubman's decision to accelerate its development by obtaining a demolition permit while waiting for the next court victory that will allow us to build this site big, strong and union."