Letters to the Editor | May 6, 2026

I do hope the pop-up storefront experiment on Market Street East brings the kind of vitality to that area that has long been hoped for. I was active in the Chamber of Commerce in the early 80s, and it was a problem then, so, no, it is not online shopping that has caused the demise of Market Street, as Inga Saffron suggests.

My husband and I spent the weekend in Asbury Park, N.J., and before we arrived, I assumed its Main Street would have resembled Market Street East. Instead, we found a vibrant area, so popular that it had several valet parking services to take care of patrons.

The area is full of charming restaurants and small boutiques. I only saw two or three empty storefronts for rent in a seven or eight-block area.

What are the differences?

The streets are immaculately clean. There were no unhoused people. The smell of marijuana didn’t permeate the area. There was no loitering, screaming, or cursing coming from emotionally disturbed people.

My conclusion: Create an area where people feel safe and welcome.

Do that, and people will come.

Nancy Gordon, Philadelphia, ngordon1@sbcglobal.net

I am outraged at the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which opened up the practice of partisan gerrymandering. The court has had a recent pattern of undermining the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was won with the blood and sacrifice of courageous Americans. The racist underpinnings of these decisions are obvious.

Any reasonable person can see that, despite the alleged rationale of avoiding “reverse discrimination,” the court’s purpose (and a consequence of the decision) is to facilitate the dominance of the Republican Party for the foreseeable future. The court’s use of dubious legal rationales to cover purely partisan ends is obscene and violates the purpose of the court to be a fair and impartial arbiter of the Constitution.

Please advocate against any further erosion of the rights of all citizens to have their vote counted.

Mark Schenker, Blue Bell

Thank you for your analysis of arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which supports what those of us who have worked for many years with the immigrant community know by experience.

I recently worked with an immigrant community in Cape May County, N.J. Their dedicated work in hotels, restaurants, landscaping, and construction provides great support to the tourism industry of that county. They work hard, pay taxes, and have a wonderful spirit of family and community.

In the face of mass deportation, a group of citizens went to see our congressman, who has lived in that county and shared our experience of the immigrant community. He, himself, has been witness to all that we testified. His response to us was that a woman had come to him to report that an immigrant had violated her daughter. This one case was enough for him to forget all that he had seen and support the president’s immigration enforcement agenda.

“Worst of the worst” is not the truth, but a rallying call to win over many people not fortunate enough to have firsthand experience of our immigrant community, who are in many ways just like our own ancestors.

I encourage everyone to read your analysis, visit an immigrant church service, or go to an immigrant restaurant or festival. Don’t be afraid of negative tales of the “other.”

Sister Veronica Roche, Westmont

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