More than 2 1/2 years after SpongeBob triumphantly led a marching band at American Dream’s official debut in October 2019, the megamall is struggling to keep pace with debt payments. The mall’s developer — Triple Five of Canada — risked defaulting on $800 million in municipal bond debt when it missed a June 1 interest payment of $11.4 million. The bank tapped a reserve account for the money, but it’s just the latest in a string of failed payments.

“Obviously, the project has been troubled. It’s kind of a joke around here that it’s maybe cursed … It’s like they’ve already had three of the ten plagues,” said Martin Braun of Bloomberg News. Shortly after it opened, the megamall was locked down for months due to COVID-19, then partially flooded by Tropical Storm Ida. Its indoor ski slope, Big Snow, just reopened after a fire that caused extensive damage.