A Hudson Shopping Center is ‘Shaped Like a Swastika’?

Urban Dictionary claims that a Hudson Valley shopping center looks suspiciously like a swastika.

While technically a "dictionary," Urban Dictionary is not really known for being full of actual facts. For example, the definitions for the town and city of Poughkeepsie are summed up with these two example sentences:

Ugh I'm from the city of poughkeepsie. I'm 17 and I have 3 kids.

I'm from the town of poughkeepsie and I graduated from high school when I was 14.

And when it comes to Newburgh, the Orange County city is "defined" as a city in upstate New York that's "way tougher than p**** ol' Poughkeepsie." Ok, that one may actually be true. But it's a reference to the Hudson Valley Mall in Kingston that really has us scratching our heads.

A small adverse city in the Hudson Valley largely known for having Billy Costello, a tiny shopping mall (which unbeknowingly is in the shape of a swastika), fancy pubs bars and eateries rittled (sp) with late night middle aged alcoholics, and let's not forget the most ghetto school system in Ulster County.

Now, it's certainly true that famed boxer, Billy Costello, was born in Kingston and there are many fancy pubs and eateries in the city. And while we're not exactly sure we'd say Kingston is "riddled" with middle aged alcoholics, the city was recently listed as the drunkest in New York State, so we'll give them a pass on that one. As for having the most "ghetto school system" in Ulster County? Well, we're not really sure what that even means.

The one thing that has really caught our attention, however, is the claim that the mall is built "in the shape of a swastika." Could it be true that all this time we've never noticed that the Hudson Valley Mall was actually a swastika? A quick click on Google Maps' aerial view clears things up:

While we can kind of see how someone who was looking for a swastika could maybe find one in the footprint of the mall, it's certainly clear that the building was not, in fact, built that way on purpose. In fact, it looks a lot more like a stick figure giving a "thumbs up" to us.

Other buildings have actually been mistakenly built in the shape of a swastika, though. Presumably designed before the advent of satellite imagery, the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado, California is just one of them:

So what do you think? Does the Hudson Valley Mall look like a swastika to you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.