BY JOHN CROPLEY, The Daily Gazette

ROTTERDAM — Tax season is a busy time in some corners of ViaPort Rotterdam mall.

About 70,000 square feet of the former Macy’s department store was converted into a state Department of Taxation and Finance call center last year, with 400 employees on-site and room for 300 more, as needed, during times of high demand.

They’re starting to be needed now; it’s tax season. As of Monday, 489 employees were working in the Consolidated Contact Center, a state spokesman reported.

The employees get two breaks a day, and many are using those breaks to go for a walk in the corridors, mall spokesman Alan Fanitzi said.

Foot traffic is greatly increased, though the greatest benefit has been to the mall’s food retailers, he said.

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