The Giants and the Jets have been lambasted in recent weeks for crushing the American Dream. You know, the glittery new Meadowlands mall and entertainment center that’s planned to replace the swamp monster called Xanadu.

The pro football teams are suing over the expanded complex next door to their stadium, saying it could turn Route 3 into a slow-moving parking lot. The teams are asking only that it shut down on game days, similar to all malls in Bergen County, where blue laws force retail stores to close on Sundays.

For that, they’ve been labeled job-killers. Gov. Chris Christie said this is no way to do business. A spokesman for the developer called the lawsuit “an assault on the taxpayers of New Jersey.”

But think about it. Route 3 is already an excruciating crawl on game days. These developers are from the same company that brought us the Mall of America in Minnesota, the largest in the country, and they’re promising the American Dream will be even bigger. It will have a water park. Indoor skiing and skydiving. An amusement park. And a zillion stores and restaurants.

Dreamworks, the creator of “Shrek,” has signed on to allow its characters to be used for the theme park. So brace yourself. We’ll have a celebrity ogre to contend with, too.

It defies common sense to claim, as the developers do, that the modest traffic improvements made could handle all that. This development is expected to draw 55 million visitors a year, more even than Xanadu would have.

And remember, the developers signed a contract giving the Giants and Jets the right to block any project that has an adverse impact on their operations. That’s what this looks like to us. And a contract is a contract.

Yes, the state is desperate to transform the collapsed Xanadu project into something that would create jobs and tax revenues. Taxpayers provided enormous subsidies. And yes, traffic is a part of life in New Jersey. Drivers also are responsible for avoiding roads at peak hours.

But this lawsuit is in the public interest, because it forces our attention onto the issue before the collision occurs. Since the main problem is the roughly 20 Sundays a year when games are played, there’s room for compromise here.

Maybe the American Dream can close for all or part of game days to ease traffic. As a sweetener, maybe the teams can donate the paint to cover the exterior of Xanadu, so New Jersey can give the 1970s back their ugly.

Regardless of what they settle on, both sides will have to scrutinize the traffic impact and make adjustments. And in the end, that’s good for Jersey drivers. Anything that can be done to reduce the coming misery should be.