More than a year after the small restaurant Jersey Kebab made national headlines and inspired widespread criticism of ICE when agents arrested the owners, their son is now fighting a similar battle.
The federal government informed Muhammed Emanet, who left Turkey when he was 12, of its intention to deny his request for a green card, with a 30-day window to present new or additional information to try to persuade the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services to allow him to stay.
No one knows for sure what happens when the deadline comes up next week.
If he is deported, he’ll be separated from his wife and two young sons. Hundreds of letters have been signed and gathered on his behalf, attesting to his good character.
The recently launched Women’s Brain Health Initiative at the Rutgers Brain Health Institute seeks to better understand what researchers say has been historically under-studied — how hormonal changes affect the brain.
The focus is on hormonal shifts that occur throughout life such as puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause.
The research and the public education will center information on women’s mental health, disease vulnerability, and brain function and development.
Officials from the Haddonfield Police Department charged a man from Maple Shade on Tuesday for allegedly damaging and stealing LGBTQ flags along Kings Highway in the business district, according to authorities.
New Jersey’s Office of Corrections Ombudsperson released a report on Tuesday detailing conditions at Bayside State Prison in South Jersey including overcrowding and unclean conditions, according to New Jersey Monitor.
New Jersey’s rent for office space is slightly more than the national average. Between January and May, $387 million in office sales were recorded in the state and 630,000 square feet of offices were under construction.
Camden County will conduct mosquito spraying this morning in Bellmawr, Camden,Clementon, Haddon Heights, Gloucester Township, Lawnside, Lindenwold, and Stratford, according to the county.
It’s not too early to think about October, apparently. According to 42 Freeway, Spirit Halloween seems to be coming to Deptford, Cherry Hill, and Mount Laurel.
Meet Yaxel Lendeborg, a Pennsauken High graduate who has had one of the most unconventional yet fastest basketball career trajectories from community college to becoming a national champion.
🧠Trivia time
Which former Eagle does a celebrity bartending fundraiser every year in South Jersey?
The son of the Jersey Kebab restaurant owners whose ICE arrests sparked wide condemnation last year now confronts his own battle to stay in the United States.
Muhammed Emanet, 26, said he is trying to be upbeat as he faces the prospect of being separated from his wife and two sons, ages 4 and 1, all American citizens.
“I try not to dwell on what I can’t control,” said Emanet, who with his parents operates the popular South Jersey eatery in Collingswood. “I still have a restaurant to run, employees that depend on me, customers, family. I have no other choice but to be positive.”
Still, his situation feels disorienting, as what seemed to be settled is now newly unsettled.
In spring the Department of Homeland Security ended its effort to deport Emanet, which seemed to clear the path for him to stay in the U.S. But this month, a different federal immigration agency told him it plans to deny his request for legal permanent residency, what is known as a green card.
That intended denial carries a 30-day window for Emanet, who came here from Turkey as a boy, to present new or additional evidence to try to change the minds of officials at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The government also told him that under a new Trump administration policy, he and other immigrants who are pursuing green cards while living in the U.S. must leave the country and apply from their home nations. Emanet hasn’t been in Turkey since he was 12.
It’s unclear what will happen when the 30-day deadline expires around July 2.
Muhammed Emanet greets Elijah Brown, a friend from high school, and his family, at Jersey Kebab in Collingswood on Sunday.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
A little more than a year ago, on Feb. 25, 2025, the small Mediterranean restaurant on Haddon Avenue generated national headlines. Immigration advocates and local leaders railed against what they saw as government injustice, after ICE agents arrested owners Celal Emanet and his wife, Emine.
Their arrests angered a South Jersey community that has long known the couple as caring people who offer free food to the hungry. A GoFundMe campaign to pay family costs and expenses raised $327,000, drawing donations from across the country and beyond, including from Ireland, Germany, and England.
Now, a community effort to help Muhammed Emanet is driving a new letter-writing campaign, with person after person attesting to his good character and his importance to his neighbors. Hundreds of letters have been signed and gathered to be presented on his behalf, said Lori Leonard, who organized the GoFundMe campaign last year.
“People are rallying behind Muhammed,” she said.
State Assemblyman Bill Moen, a Democrat who represents parts of Camden and Gloucester Counties, signed a letter of support. He said on social media that Emanet “has touched the lives of many people throughout South Jersey” as a husband, father, neighbor, friend, and businessperson.
“While I don’t make immigration decisions,” Moen said, “I do believe decision-makers should understand the character of the people whose lives are affected by those decisions.”
U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, a South Jersey Democrat, met with the family soon after Emine Emanet was released from ICE detention, and as her son’s situation emerged this month he stressed in a statement that the family had been long “rooted in our community.”
In response to questions on Muhammed Emanet’s situation, USCIS said it does not comment on individual immigration cases.
Being removed to Turkey would likely separate Emanet from his wife and children for years. It also could subject him to reprisals from the Turkish regime, where repressive human-rights conditions under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has driven an exodus.
Marriage to a U.S. citizen by someone who legally entered the country ― as Emanet did ― has long been a reliable route to an adjustment of status and acquisition of a green card.
But the Trump policy change announced in May said adjustment should be an “extraordinary” relief, one that depends on government discretion, not merely on having a valid marriage and submitting the proper forms. Failing to depart the U.S. under the policy can by itself be treated as a negative factor in the government’s decision-making.
Emanet’s immigration lawyer, Joseph Best, said that change in administration policy does not alter the law around eligibility for green cards.
“If USCIS follows the law,” Best said, “he will attain his lawful permanent resident status just as Congress intended. It is not some fluke or exceptional ‘ask’ here.”
Discretionary factors, he said, all favor Emanet, who was brought legally to the U.S. as a child, was admitted under a valid visa, and has no criminal history. He is loved in his community, and a key person in a successful family business that is known for helping others, Best said.
The Jersey Kebab restaurant in Collingswood where Muhammed Emanet works is seen on Sunday, June 21. It offers the same “Free Meal” policy as at the prior location in Haddon Township.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Celal and Emine Emanet came legally to the United States with two young children in 2008, entering under a religious visa that allowed the father to work at a New Jersey Islamic center.
They said that they sought green cards before that visa expired in 2013, but that the application has been in government limbo for years.
In 2021, they founded Jersey Kebab in Haddon Township, and the restaurant recently moved west on Haddon Avenue to a new location in Collingswood.
The couple’s immigration cases continue. Celal Emanet’s next hearing is scheduled for December, while his wife is to appear in April 2027.
The family stands among roughly 386,000 Turkish immigrants and people of Turkish ancestry who live in the United States, according to Inquirer computations of U.S. Census figures. That includes about 15,000 in Philadelphia and surrounding suburban Pennsylvania and New Jersey counties.
Turkey is a longtime U.S. ally, a rectangular land bridge between Europe and Asia that is surrounded by sea on three sides. It is a Muslim nation, a country of tea drinkers, the place where Julius Caesar is said to have immortally proclaimed “Veni, vidi, vici” ― “I came, I saw, I conquered” ― after a decisive battle victory near what is now the modern town of Zile.
Today, people are leaving the country amid economic instability and political purges, with many trying to get to the United States.
U.S. government apprehensions of Turkish nationals at the Mexican and Canadian borders surged from 67 in 2020 to more than 15,000 in 2022 and another 15,000-plus in 2023, dropping to 10,500 in 2024. Figures for 2025 were not immediately available.
President Donald Trump is expected to be in Turkey next month to attend the NATO summit in Ankara.
Muhammed Emanet works at his family’s restaurant, Jersey Kebab, in Collingswood on Sunday, June 21.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
During Trump’s second term, USCIS has repeatedly paused the processing of applications for all types of immigration benefits, including those for legal permanent residency.
Last month, the administration announced it would require foreigners who are living in the U.S. and want to obtain green cards to leave the country to do so. The administration said they must now apply in their homelands, a departure from longstanding policy that has sowed confusion and concern.
For decades, foreign nationals who meet requirements have been able to complete the green-card process in the United States, including those married to U.S. citizens, holders of work and student visas, and refugees and asylum seekers.
USCIS spokesperson Zach Kahler said in a statement that entering the U.S. on a visa should not be a first step toward obtaining a green card, that tourists and temporary workers are permitted to come here for limited times.
“Our system is designed for them to leave when their visit is over,” he said.
Making people leave the country to apply for green cards “reduces the need to find and remove those who decide to slip into the shadows and remain in the U.S. illegally,” he said.
The administration instructed immigration officers to consider violations of immigration laws, including overstaying a visa, as negative factors in their decision-making.
Since the uproar, though, USCIS has seemed to walk back the policy, saying it would be implemented on a case-by-case basis. That could mean that some immigrants will be able to stay in the U.S. while they seek green cards.
Emanet said his immigration case started in 2020, when two plainclothes ICE officers arrived at the family home and said he was in the country illegally.
In spring, his attorney persuaded an immigration court in Newark to terminate Emanet’s court case ― with no opposition from the DHS Office of the Principal Legal Adviser, the ICE prosecutors. That termination seemed to clear the way for Emanet to adjust his status.
Instead, on June 3 he received a Notice of Intent to Deny from federal immigration officials, indicating they plan to reject his application to adjust his status. He is not sure what will happen when the 30-day deadline for new information expires.
“I have children here who need my support ― American citizens who depend on me,” Emanet said. “I thought I was that one, that I did everything exactly how I was supposed to, that I should receive my green card. … It feels like a punch in the gut.”
Yaxel Lendeborg went from playing one varsity season at Pennsauken High School to an NBA lottery pick.
The 23-year-old forward, who was the Big Ten Player of the Year this season at national champion Michiganwas picked No. 11 by Golden State in the first round on Tuesday night.
Expressing emotion when hearing his name called at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Lendeborg embraced his mother, Yissel, in tears.
He said on the ESPN telecast that “I don’t deserve to be here right now. I didn’t have the traditional path. … I can’t believe it.”
Lendeborg thought his basketball career was over in high school. He played in just 11 games his senior year after being academically ineligible to play for his sophomore and junior seasons.
That was until an opportunity arose — thanks to his mother — at the junior college level with Arizona Western College.
“That kid got here because of her,” Lendeborg said on the telecast. “She pushed a dream, forced me to go out there and become a man.”
He spent three seasons at Arizona Western, including a COVID-19 season, where he emerged in his third year, averaging 17.2 points and 13 rebounds. In 2023, he transferred to Alabama-Birmingham and played two seasons with the Blazers.
Yaxel Lendeborg celebrates with his family after being selected by the Golden State Warriors.Yuki Iwamura
In his final season at UAB, he averaged 17.7 points and 11.4 rebounds. He also was named the American Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year and an all-conference selection twice.
Lendeborg, who is 6-foot-9, graduated from UAB in 2025 and entered the transfer portal for his final year of eligibility, which brought him to Michigan. Lendeborg averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 40 games for the Wolverines.
Tuesday was the second time in Michigan program history that three players were drafted in the first round.
Center Aday Mara was picked by the Oklahoma City Thunder at No. 12 after forward Morez Johnson Jr. went ninth overall to the Mavericks, reuniting with his college coach, Dusty May, who on Tuesday was named Dallas’ head coach.
After he was selected, Lendeborg said his mother told him, “We did it. All the sacrifice we made, we finally accomplished it — you did it.”
He’ll join a Golden State team that finished 10th in the Western Conference, with a 37-45 record this season.
While state and federal lawmakers have blasted the Trump administration for deplorable conditions at Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall, New Jersey’s prisons watchdog has issued a new report detailing overcrowding, intolerable heat, and other deficiencies at Bayside State Prison in Cumberland County.
Bayside, one of the state’s largest lockups, now houses almost 1,300 people, more than twice its capacity, according to the report released Tuesday by the state corrections ombudsperson’s office. The mixed-security prison, which opened in 1971 in Leesburg, was built to hold 504 people.
“Turning single-occupancy rooms into double-occupancy rooms … leaves each incarcerated person with significantly less storage and personal space,” the report says.
The crowding is compounded by the closure of Bayside’s dining hall, which is now used for storage, the report says. That closure forces prisoners to eat all three meals while perched on their beds or foot lockers in their cramped cells, which at 70 square feet are about the size of a parking space.
Inspectors from the ombudsperson’s office also found old, thin mattresses; birds in the kitchen and housing units; and dirty showers, among other problems.
The prison lacks air conditioning, so inspectors also encountered stifling heat during summer inspections, with temperatures reaching 94 degrees in cells and shared spaces and 116 degrees in the kitchen, according to the report.
State health inspectors, who last inspected Bayside in November 2023, also dinged the prison for a “repeat deficiency” for the presence of insects or rodents, the report says.
The ombudsperson’s office recommended that Department of Corrections officials allow people to eat meals outside their cells in a courtyard area or day rooms if they cannot reopen the dining hall, and to improve cleaning of kitchen equipment and showers, among other things.
Officials have tried to improve some problems, such as replacing mattresses and exhaust fans and vents in shower areas, as well as putting up barriers to keep out birds, the report says.
Reopening the dining hall, which has been closed since 1997, is “not logistically feasible” because of cost, staffing, and security concerns, the department said in a response to the report. They said they won’t move meals to common areas, also citing security reasons.
On Tuesday night, Yaxel Lendeborg will likely be a first-round pick in the NBA draft.
But the Pennsauken High graduate’s basketball career nearly ended after playing just 11 varsity games. If not for his mom, Yissel, Lendeborg might not ever have played Division I basketball, much less become a lottery pick.
“Seeing him, and seeing his mother, and how much she has [meant] to him, and how much work she’s done to be able to help guide him mentally, and obviously on the court, it’s been the honor of my coaching career,” Pennsauken coach Harrison Carsillo said.
Lendeborg wasn’t academically eligible to play basketball for a large portion of high school. He played on Pennsauken’s freshman team, but was held out for his sophomore and junior seasons, and most of senior year. He trained in the summer with coaches and friends from Pennsauken, but watched from the sidelines during the school year.
In a Players’ Tribune article, Lendeborg said that the turning point for him was during his senior year. One night, after staying out late with his friends playing video games, his mom confronted him and told him that he needed to focus to even graduate from Pennsauken, much less play basketball.
“This is no joke right now,” Lendeborg said in the article. “Nobody is smiling here. You have your mom up in this minivan crying her eyes out because you don’t know how to be a good son. Your own mom! Who does everything for you. Works two jobs. Shows you love no matter what. And this is how you’re being?!?!?!”
Yaxel Lendeborg averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 40 games for Michigan last season.Lon Horwedel
During that final year, Lendeborg improved his grades enough to play the final 11 games of the high school season, even competing in the NJSIAA playoffs. But he thought his basketball career was over, until his mom set him up to attend junior college at Arizona Western College. Lendeborg wrote that she planned the going-away party without even telling him he was going, because she knew he needed that push.
From there, Lendeborg had one of the most improbable rises to the draft, transferring to Alabama-Birmingham in 2023 and then Michigan before last season, where he won Big Ten Player of the Year and an NCAA title. Lendeborg, a 6-foot-9 forward, averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in 40 games for the Wolverines.
Lendeborg was always talented, Carsillo said. His biggest problem was not believing in himself. Carsillo and Lendeborg’s mom forced him to pick up the phone after Division I schools started calling him about transferring, because he wasn’t sure if that was the right fit for him.
“He didn’t answer the phone, and I said to him, ‘If you don’t answer that phone call, I’m going to take your phone, and I’m going to smash it, or rip your sneakers.’ I [was] going to be so upset, because he didn’t believe in himself that he could actually do what we knew he could do, if he put his mind to it,” Carsillo said.
“It was a really funny moment. I obviously wasn’t going to rip his sneakers or smash his phone, but I was very upset, because it was almost just a mental thing going into it, because he had so much potential that he didn’t even see himself.”
After two years at UAB, Lendeborg was a fringe first-round prospect. He could have ended his college career there, but instead spent another year in college to develop further, and prove to himself and to NBA draft scouts that he could succeed at that highest level. Carsillo said that Lendeborg’s year at Michigan has him more confident and aware of his sky-high potential.
But what’s stood out the most to Carsillo over the years is Lendeborg’s selflessness, on and off the court. In the Final Four, Lendeborg suffered an MCL and ankle sprain. Some advised him not to play to protect his draft stock, but Lendeborg insisted on helping his teammates see it through and vowed, “I’m playing no matter what.”
At halftime of the national championship game on April 6, he said he felt “awful,” but still gritted out a 13-point, 36-minute performance in the 69-63 win over UConn.
Yaxel Lendeborg spent two seasons at UAB after attending Arizona Western College.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer
“That’s him,” Carsillo said. “He could have easily just said, ‘No, I’m good.’ He knows he’s going to get drafted. He knows he’s changed his family’s life. It’s amazing. That’s exactly who he is, 100%, and he was like that at Pennsauken, just much lower stakes.”
Lendeborg even has a chance to reunite with his college coach, Dusty May, who reportedly accepted the Dallas Mavericks’ head coaching job on Monday. The Mavericks hold the No. 9 pick in the draft, slightly above where Lendeborg has been projected, but Lendeborg joked Monday that he’s “going to tell him he better pick me up. If he doesn’t, I’m going to be mad. I might block him.”
The forward has grown up a lot since high school. He’s one of the oldest prospects in the draft, but he’s played only about six seasons of organized basketball. He grew up playing baseball, and told ESPN that he first learned how to play basketball through the NBA 2K video game.
“He still has so much room to grow, and he’s still learning how to become a better basketball player; it’s remarkable,” Carsillo said. “He has a little bit of self doubt, but not much anymore. This whole process with the NBA and Michigan turned his eye and turned his mindset around to be able to prove to himself, like, ‘I can do what my mother has always told me I could do.’”
Lendeborg’s mom can’t attend as many games as she used to. She’s currently nearing the end of her treatment cycle for appendix cancer, which she initially kept hidden from Lendeborg to keep him focused on his season at Michigan. But planned to be in Brooklyn on Tuesday to watch her son’s NBA journey begin — a journey he’d never have come close to if not for her pushing him every step of the way.
The nurses at Virtua Mount Holly Hospital have a new three-year contract after two months of negotiations.
It comes after their union — which represents more than 700 nurses at the hospital — voted earlier this month to strike if they could not reach a deal.
What did they win?
🩺 The nurses will receive an average 16.5% pay raise through June 2028.
🩺 The hospital will implement a visitor identification system.
🩺 The nurses will have access to panic buttons.
🩺 Protocols to notify nurses when they’re exposed to an infectious disease will be enhanced.
Camden County has a new clinic that provides active military service members, veterans, and their spouses with certain legal services at no cost to them.
These county residents be able to receive a last will and testament, power of attorney, and advance directive. The county will absorb the cost at $50 per will, $25 per power of attorney, and $100 per hour for legal information.
Sixteen veterans have already signed up for the first clinic on Wednesday in Cherry Hill.
Gloucester County provides a similar service where all active military personnel and veterans can receive free help to create a simple will, which doesn’t include trusts or complex estate planning.
Current and former military personnel can now receive free estate planning assistance in Camden County to help support their families’ futures.
The Camden County Board of Commissioners launched the new clinic last month, one of several no-cost legal services available to vulnerable South Jersey residents.
The clinic, currently scheduled monthly, gives active service members, veterans, and their spouses living in Camden County access to certain legal services at no charge. The county will provide a last will and testament, power of attorney, and an advance directive, which documents a person’s preferences for medical treatment in case they become unable to make their own healthcare decisions.
Sixteen veterans are signed up for the first Veterans Will Clinic on Wednesday at the Camden County One-Stop Career Center in Cherry Hill Township, said Morgan Callan, the county’s external communications manager. There is no current cap for how many veterans can participate.
The Camden County Office of Veterans Affairs is now accepting registrations for the second clinic, on July 29. Anyone interested should contact the office by calling 856-374-5801, or by visiting the office at 1 Collier Drive in Blackwood, part of the Camden County Lakeland Complex.
The Camden County Office of Veteran’s Affairs has partnered with Susan Purvin, an attorney from Gloucester County, to help provide the services. Louis Cappelli Jr., one of Camden County’s three commissioners, said in a statement that he hopes everyone eligible takes advantage of the program.
“Our veterans and servicemembers have sacrificed so much in service to our nation, so have their families,” Cappelli Jr. said. “The least we can do is help them get their affairs in order, giving them the confidence that their last wishes will be protected.”
The cost to Camden County for the program is $50 per will, $25 per power of attorney, and $100 per hour for every legal information session, with the total cost varying based on how many people show up for the clinics, said Dan Keashen, the county’s public affairs director.
Other counties in South Jersey provide similar services. All active military personnel and veterans in Gloucester County can receive assistance with a simple will, a legal document for those not looking to involve complicated estates or trusts in their end-of-life plans.
You don’t have to be a veteran to find free legal services in Camden County.
The Camden County Bar Association hosts Wills for Heroes, a small, volunteer-led clinic that provides free wills and estate planning documents to firefighters, police officers, and paramedics, and their spouses annually. The 2026 clinic, which took place in March, was full at 21 participants.
Kara Edens Graser, the association’s executive director, said she hopes to run the same clinic next year.
Plus, about 300 attorneys volunteer on an as-needed basis for the Volunteer UP Legal Clinic, a Camden-based nonprofit that provides legal expertise to those who need it. The nonprofit spent more than $300,000 in 2024 to provide legal services for tenants, criminal record expungement, estate planning, and name changes, according to its 2024 tax filing.
Volunteer UP also provides same-day eviction defense for tenants in Burlington, Camden, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties, CEO Steven Salinger said via email.
Five men ages 18 to 25 known as the Camden Bop Originators appear in viral TikTok videos and Instagram clips. The dance crew has amassed millions of views, with little signs of slowing down.
Ethan Tarte, one of the members of the group, inadvertently invented the dance when he was trying to imagine what it would be like to glide around the rink at Camden’s Millennium Skate World. He practiced his moves barefoot in front of a mirror and that became the foundation of the “Camden bop.”
It wasn’t long before he posted videos of him doing the dance with his friends on Snapchat.
Tarte is particularly proud of the name and sees it as a way to honor his city.
“I hear how people talk about Camden, and people are genuinely afraid sometimes to come through here,” Tarte said. “I was excited it was the ‘Camden bop,’ so that everyone knew that there was something good that came out of Camden. We’re more than what everybody thinks we are.”
The state Motor Vehicle Commission website doesn’t have a way to register an e-bike. The latest information is that the MVC will begin offering appointments for e-bike licensing and registration after the grace period ends on July 19.
And what if you’re coming from out-of-state and looking to bring an e-bike down the Shore?
ICE reportedly is planning to offload three warehouse properties it intended to use as mass detention centers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Veterans visited the USS New Jersey in Camden for a day of competition in Brazilian jiujitsu on Saturday. It was part of a two-day seminar and fundraiser for We Defy Foundation, a nonprofit that provides the martial art classes and mentors to combat veterans to help them transition back into civilian life.
Eagles linebacker Jalyz Hunt attended Deptford High School’s graduation to support the two students who created a fan account for him.
According to 42 Freeway, Villa Nuova Italian Restaurant in Deptford will close at the end of month after more than 25 years.
Burlington County is offering $40 farmers market vouchers to low-income seniors. Seniors in Evesham Township can redeem them at Cheyenne’s Road Market.
Vineland public schools are relaxing its dress code policy and allowing teachers to wear jeans until the end of the school year.
Clement “Clem” Pappas is one of the cofounders and the CEO of Stateside Vodka, widely known for its popular hard iced teas, Surfside. He lives in South Jersey but where specifically?
A bridge leading into Saddler’s Woods in Haddon Township.Taylor Allen
I snapped this picture Sunday morning while taking a walk and listening to an audiobook.
Saddler’s Woods is a 25.8 acre forest known for its centuries-old trees. It’s named after Joshua Saddler, a formerly enslaved man who purchased land and built a home there in the 1800s. In his will, he wrote that none of his heirs “shall cut the timber thereon.”
Last week, just outside the Camden Waterfront walkway, stood a group of five men, ages 18 to 25. They were all decked out in embroidered hoodies with the words “Camden Bop” stitched on the front.
They were quiet at first before the sight of a camera and sound of an up-tempo beat grabbed their attention.They smiled and their motionless bodies kicked into action.
They shifted their hips from side to side, while their arms and heels bounced to the song’s drum kicks and chopped vocal sample. They added leg extensions and shifty pivots into the mix, creating a synchronized dance that flowed like water.
The words stitched across their hoodies took on new meaning.
This is the Camden bop. Viral TikTok videos and Instagram clips of the group, known as the Camden Bop Originators, have turned the move into a social media sensation.
Ethan Tarte, pictured at the center of the image, is the man behind the now-viral dance, the “Camden bop.”Earl Hopkins
The crew comprises Camden natives Ethan Tarte, Myles Thompson, Nafi Muhammad, Rodney Barge Jr., and Haleem Muhammad.
At 16, Tarte unintentionally created the Camden bop by trying to imagine what it would be like to circle the rink at Camden’s Millennium Skate World. Before he had skates, he practiced his moves barefoot in front of his mirror.
What emerged became the foundation of the Camden bop.
The influence of Jersey Club dances is present in the heel-toe slides, leg extensions, and quick pivots they add to the Camden bop over up-tempo club remixes of popular rap and R&B songs like Ryan Leslie’s “Addiction” and R. Kelly’s “Freaky in the Club.”
“We grew up Jersey Club dancing … back when dancing was allowed,” Tarte, now 25, joked, “so it definitely comes from that.”
‘We’re more than what everybody thinks we are’
When the dance didn’t yet have a name, Tarte flirted with the idea of calling it the E Boogie Bop, after a nickname he had earned for his quick moves on the basketball court at Camden High School. But he opted for the name of his hometown, hoping the dance would change people’s perception of a city that was once among the nation’s poorest and most dangerous.
“I hear how people talk about Camden, and people are genuinely afraid sometimes to come through here,” Tarte said. “I was excited it was the Camden bop, so that everyone knew that there was something good that came out of Camden. We’re more than what everybody thinks we are.”
Not long after, Tarte started posting Snapchat videos of him doing the dance with his friends Thompson, Barge, and Nafi Muhammad. Haleem Muhammad, 18, joined later. Some of their peers called them corny at first, but the bop eventually caught on with others at Camden High.
“It really started from us having fun, and wanting to be us,” Tarte said. “People used to make fun of us, but it really comes from the love [of dancing].”
The same people who called the dance corny are now tripping over their feet to learn it, said Tyray Green, who graduated from Camden High with Tarte.
“People are insecure with themselves,” he said. “The whole time, they could have minded their business.”
“I feel like they’re doing it worldwide now,” Green said.
A fan in 2Rare
The dance shared among high schoolers has now drawn the attention of artists, athletes, and content creators from around the country.
Among them is North Philly rapper 2Rare, best known for his viral TikTok songs and dance videos, who featured the Originators in the video for his single, “Camden Bop,” after seeing the group’s TikTok videos.
2Rare, born Naseem Young, reached out to the Originators so he could put a face and name to the dance that was taking over people’s social media feeds.
“I know how quickly people can steal a wave, and nobody will ever know who the dance was from, who started this or started that,” he said. “I’ve had it happen to me. People have stolen my dances and ran off with it, so reaching out to them was a big deal.”
He first considered shooting the video in Philly, but thanks to advice from Gillie Da King, he recognized the significance of bringing the production to the birthplace of the dance.
“I had to make it happen,” 2Rare said. “I want to really shed light on them, and Gillie said, ‘They will never forget about you for doing something like that,’ and he was absolutely right.”
For Green, the recognition proves what he’s always known: Camden has more than just athletic talent. For him, it’s a city with both grit and style, deserving of its own recognition.
“We get overlooked a lot,” he said. “To see [2Rare] who has eyes on him, stick their arms out to give our city notoriety is big.”
‘There’s love all over the map’
In April, the dancers joined 2Rare outside of Camden High School to film the music video, now sitting at 2.8 million YouTube views since its May 7 premiere.
“It’s humbling,” Tarte said. “This all happened for a reason. It all fell into our lap.”
Earlier this month, their performance on a New York-based music radio show, On The Radar, with 2Rare shined a brighter light on the movement. The viral clips from that performance have reached more than 3 millions views on Instagram, with hundreds of commenters lauding their performance and the homage to their hometown.
“Keep [putting] on for the city @camdenboppers 🙌🏾🕺🏾,” one user commented.
Even Chance the Rapper followed the group’s Instagram page, and top streamer Tylil dropped a comment, giving 2Rare and the crew props for their performance.
Nafi Muhammad, 23, who started bopping as a junior at Camden High, said the reactions have been “overwhelming.”
“My nephew watched it on his tablet like a thousand times,” he said. “It’s been a lot of love.”
For years, Muhammad wondered where the group would be if they dedicated more time to promoting the dance back in high school. Now, with the millions of viewers they have reached, little is left to the imagination.
They are living it.
“If TikTok was jumping like it is now back in high school, we would have the dance in another stratosphere,” Muhammad said. “But we kept saying it, and then it happened.”
The “Camden bop,” originated by dancer Ethan Tarte, has become a viral sensation. Tarte’s group, the Camden Bop Originators, includes members Myles Thompson, Rodney Barge Jr., Haleem Muhammad, and Nafi Muhammad.Earl Hopkins
“There’s love all over the map, and it’s definitely only the beginning,” Tarte said.
The group has met criticism too, with online comments often ranging from “wild dance” to “horrible song.”
The criticism isn’t new territory for Tarte. “People used to call me weird in high school, and now I hear I’m too old to do the dance,” he said.
None of that has ever stopped him.
The “Camden bop,” originated by South Jersey-born dancers Myles Thompson, Ethan Tarte, Rodney Barge Jr., Nafi Muhammad, and Haleem Muhammad, has become a viral sensation.Earl Hopkins
“Camden is a small city, but we’re making big noise right now, and we’re trying to keep that going,” Barge said, adding that he’s grateful for the collaboration with 2Rare.
The love is not one-sided. 2Rare said the collaboration has elevated his career, too.
“They are part of the reason I’m hot right now, so I could never not acknowledge them,” the rapper said. “If it wasn’t for the dance, it would have still been difficult. I had a quiet moment, but I had to pop out and show out. That was a big jawn.”
The rapper is already planning for a remix of “Camden Bop,” and wants to bring the Originatorsto Atlanta for Streamer University, a multiday workshop for growing and aspiring content creators.
As for the Originators, they want to continue spreading the joy that dancing has afforded them, and encourage others to absorb it as well.
MARGATE, N.J. — Hillary Bor had had enough of running the acclaimed Pumpkin BYOB in Philly after two decades.
Around the time Pumpkin closed in 2024, she uprooted her life and moved to the Shore full time. Also around this time, she fell in love with Tim Nedzwecky, whom she met through their respective white pit bulls, Piggy and Loki.
They hadn’t planned to launch a food venture, but when Scott Bonar, of Scott’s Dock on the bay in Margate, talked about wanting a food option, the pieces fell together.
Dogs. The Shore. A view.
Thus was born Dock Dogs (hot dogs with a view), a permanent fixture next to Scott’s Dock, with a complimentary lovely sunset over the bay.
Tim Nedzwecky and Hillary Bor, the former owner of Pumpkin BYOB in Philadelphia, opened Dock Dogs on the bay in Margate.Amy S. Rosenberg / staff
“We wanted to do something together,” Bor said. “He asked us, ‘You guys want to do food?’”
Hot dog stands have a history in Margate. There’s Junior’s nearby and the old Lenny’s, famous for its pepper hash, which was set up back in the 1960s and 1970s near Lucy the Elephant. Now, Dock Dogs has started carrying — by popular demand — the pepper hash from the original Lenny’s outside Philadelphia.
But does running a hot dog cart, even one with a beautiful view, offer fulfillment after owning Pumpkin BYOB with its elevated cuisine and prime South Street Graduate Hospital location, for 20 years?
Bor does not hesitate to answer.
“This is so fulfilling,” said Bor, who rides a bike everywhere and still doesn’t own a car. Plus, “I get to be with my soulmate. I get to be with wonderful people to work with. We get to be on the water.”
“It’s a dream come true,” said Nedzwecky.
Tim Nedzwecky and Hillary Bor at their hot dog stand on the bay in Margate, Docks Dogs. Bor is the former owner of Pumpkin BYOB in Philadelphia, which closed in 2024.Amy S. Rosenberg / staff
Dock Dogs has a menu item in memory of Scott’s mother, Robin, a familiar face around the marina, who died in 2021: Robin’s Reuben with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Russian dressing. ($12).
The Windy Dog with mustard, relish, onions, peppers, pickles, celery salt, tomatoes, and a side of Lenny’s pepper hash, at Dock Dogs in Margate, opened by Hillary Bor, the former owner of Pumpkin BYOB in Philadelphia, and partner Tim Nedzwecky.Amy S. Rosenberg / staff
All hot dogs are Hebrew National and served on Martin’s potato rolls with kettle chips, pickles, and coleslaw.
There’s chicken and egg salad options (no hot dog) as well, and the Keeper, a crab cake shaped like a hot dog ($22). The Captain’s Choice ($14) has bacon, barbecue sauce, and cheddar and a “simple sailor” hotdog with choice of ketchup, mustard, relish, sauerkraut, and sriracha is $10.
They’re hoping people come for the food as well as the vibe. Mondays are for families, with face painting and other kid-friendly activities out back, where picnic tables line the docks. You can come by boat. Wednesdays feature a house band.
There’s also a “Hook the hot dog” game that carries a prize.
The response has been enthusiastic.
“Saturday night, the vibe here, it was so special,” said Nedzwecky. “Everybody, the kids, were dancing.”
“We were looking at each other like, ‘Oh my God it’s amazing.’, ” said Bor.
“It makes us really happy,” said Nedzwecky. “People are saying this is exactly what this area needed.”
