The teenagers and elderly walkers at Crossgates Mall might not realize it, but they are standing on a Wall Street battlefield with potentially hundreds of millions of dollars on the line.

Four years ago, legendary Wall Street investor Carl Icahn made a huge bet against the future of the U.S. shopping mall in what was called the Big Short 2.0. His wager pitted him against huge asset managers and hedge funds that routinely deal in a notoriously complex and contentious market.