🛍️ Mall mourners | Morning Newsletter

It’s a warm and sunny Friday, Philly.

Local shoppers are mourning Neshaminy Mall’s glory days on TikTok. The wave of nostalgia comes as several suburban malls sit empty or face redevelopment.

And experts at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Vaccine Education Center fear policy changes coming under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist who is now the nation’s top health official.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

P.S. Friday means trivia. Our latest news quiz includes questions on the Philadelphia Cycling Classic, a “performative male” contest, and more.

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

Malls have found a resurgence in popularity — not in foot traffic, but online.

🛍️ Social media users in Greater Philadelphia are documenting the empty hallways of the region’s shopping malls, prompting scores of comments from those nostalgic for the arcades and Cold Stone Creameries of their youth.

🛍️ The vlogging trend comes as mall traffic has declined dramatically over the past few decades. Local suburban malls face various fates: Much of Exton Square Mall will be demolished to make way for a mixed-use town center. Neshaminy Mall will see some redevelopment, too. Montgomery Mall has brought on “nontraditional tenants” such as a virtual laser-tag venue in a bid to attract more visitors.

🛍️ For some millennials, the videos have prompted “an odd feeling of grief.” As one 36-year-old Downingtown native said of Exton Square: “It feels like part of our childhood is gone.”

Consumer reporter Erin McCarthy spoke to mall mourners about why these retail centers loom so large in their memories.

🎤 Now I’m passing the mic to health reporter Kayla Yup.

For 25 years, the Vaccine Education Center at CHOP has pushed back against scientific misinformation about vaccines, trying to refute scare campaigns that keep parents and patients from taking the potentially life-saving shots.

Founders Paul Offit, a nationally prominent scientist and pediatrician who created the rotavirus vaccine, and a researcher in his lab, Charlotte Moser, originally planned on running the center for just a few years. But each year, more anti-vaccine conspiracy beliefs gained traction.

Yet they didn’t foresee a year as devastating to their mission as 2025. Veteran experts, including Offit and Moser, were removed from key federal vaccine advisory committees; some were replaced with skeptics under U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s leadership.

Kennedy’s revamped advisory panel could shake up the nation’s vaccine infrastructure as it meets Thursday and Friday at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to discuss childhood vaccines for hepatitis B and measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox, followed by a review of COVID-19 vaccines. — Kayla Yup

Read on for details of the CHOP researchers’ efforts to counter vaccine misinformation.

In other health news: Wills Eye Hospital in Center City has lost money for at least 10 straight years. Here’s what it’s doing to dig out.

Welcome back to Curious Philly Friday. We’ll feature both new and timeless stories from our forum for readers to ask about the city’s quirks.

This week, we have an explainer from reporter Michelle Myers on jury duty — which, as a reminder, pays just $9 a day for the first three days of service in Philadelphia. What happens if you don’t show up when called?

The Pennsylvania judicial code says shirking your civic duty can result in a $500 fine, imprisonment, or both. These days, though, courts are more likely to work with scofflaws than punish them. Here’s the full story.

Have your own burning question about Philadelphia, its local oddities, or how the region works? Submit it here and you might find the answer featured in this space.

The hometown of Spider-Man’s cocreator, Stephen Ditko, is hosting a festival in his honor this weekend. Which Pennsylvania city is it?

A) Johnstown

B) Pittsburgh

C) Bethlehem

D) Philadelphia

Think you know? Check your answer.

📰 Remembering: That time a president was assassinated and The Inquirer spearheaded a memorial.

🏛️ Preparing for: A possible government shutdown (again).

🏢 Eyeing: A slow market’s influence on local real estate companies’ changes.

🍰 Attending: The Inquirer’s first-ever Philly Food Fest with top chefs, bakers, and live music.

🗣️ Considering: Whether political language panics are a distraction.

Hint: South of Old City

HOTEL SICILY

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here.

Cheers to Brad Longworth, who solved Thursday’s anagram: Ardmore.

The Main Line place’s long-awaited Piazza development is set to break ground this fall. Plus: The fast-rising PopUp Bagels is coming to Ardmore with the first of eight Philly-area stores.

⚽ One last sporty thing: The vibe of Philadelphia’s first women’s sports bar? Like “going to your favorite aunt’s house,” owner Chivonn Anderson says. Marsha’s opens this weekend at 430 South St.

Thanks for ending your week with The Inquirer. Enjoy the weekend.

By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.