Happy 250th birthday, America! As we celebrate our republic, we are reminded that one of our nation’s greatest strengths has been embracing change and innovation while building safeguards that protect the people and communities that fuel our economy.
This goes for banking, too. It’s easy to forget, but this nation didn’t always have a stable monetary system. President Andrew Jackson fought the powerful elite to decentralize savings and lending. Even the almighty dollar was once up for debate; it wasn’t until the 1870s that Congress would issue “greenbacks” everyone could count on.
Financial innovation has succeeded because policymakers took the time to ensure new ideas strengthened, not weakened, the foundation of our economy. But innovation should never come at the expense of the families and farmers that depend on community banks, the backbone of America’s financial system.
These institutions put local deposits to work in the communities they serve, providing loans that help them thrive. More than 99% of businesses in Pennsylvania are small businesses, and small farms — those generating under $250,000 in revenue — make up 85% of the 49,000 farms in our state. Agriculture contributes $27.5 billion to Pennsylvania’s gross state product, and farms, like small businesses across the state, depend most on the kind of relationship-driven lending community banks provide.
Unfortunately, state legislation currently being considered in Harrisburg poses a serious threat to local lending and the communities that depend on it.
House Bill 2647 would allow faceless crypto platforms and payment stablecoins (price-stabilized cryptocurrencies) to operate alongside community banks, but without the same Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) insurance requirements, antidiscrimination rules, capital requirements, and other public protections community banks are obligated to maintain.
Beyond weakening consumer protections, the Independent Community Bankers of America estimates yield-bearing stablecoins could pull $1.3 trillion in deposits from community banks nationwide, cutting local lending capacity in Pennsylvania by approximately $35 billion. Every dollar that leaves a community bank is one less dollar available to help a family buy a home, an entrepreneur start a business, or a farmer plant next season’s crops.
If legislation allowing state licensing of payment stablecoin issuers advances without adequate safeguards, it will weaken local lending and undermine Pennsylvania’s economy.
That is why the current stablecoin debate deserves careful attention.
Community banks support responsible innovation. As the president of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers, I see the cohort of community banks actively exploring new technologies and recognizing that digital assets will play a vital role in the future of finance. But stablecoins should function as a payment mechanism — not as interest-bearing investment products competing directly with federally insured bank deposits.
Small farms — those generating under $250,000 in revenue — make up 85% of the 49,000 farms in Pennsylvania. Those farms rely on the personalized lending community banks provide, writes Kevin Shivers. William Thomas Cain / For The Inquirer
Unfortunately, as currently drafted, significant loopholes remain that encourage unfair competition and ignore important protections consumers deserve and have come to expect.
Community banks have never feared competition. We have welcomed it for more than 160 years. What we are asking for is a level playing field — one that encourages innovation without sacrificing the proven financial model that has financed America’s hometowns for generations.
Lawmakers should slow the march toward stablecoins long enough to ensure innovation strengthens, not weakens, the community banking system that finances Main Street and homeownership in America.
As we celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday, we should remember that America’s greatest achievements haven’t resulted from choosing between innovation and stability, but from insisting on both.
Hidden deep in the Orange Crush heart of the Jersey Shore, there’s a beloved dive bar near West Wildwood’s bay that ignores all the common rules of commerce and good cooking. And yet its ceiling is covered in money and its unlikely hit sandwich is a Reuben made with … scallops?!
Not far away in Cape May, a new Italian restaurant is also doing things differently, crafting extraordinary meals from the highest quality ingredients ― with eye-popping prices to match. At the other end of the dining spectrum, there’s a destination-worthy cutlet sandwich in Sea Isle City and a hot new cheesesteak stand on the Wildwood boardwalk where the crowds come in hopes of glimpsing the owner, an alleged former mob boss who’s refashioned himself as a South Philly sandwich king. A very different kind of celebrity in the making — a giant seagull mascot — is aiming to energize a lively new outdoor restaurant and bar in Avalon and give fresh meaning to “Go Birds!”
Such eating adventures across the southern end of the Jersey Shore this summer were an exploration of dining culture extremes, but never dull and frequently delicious.
These 11 places from Cape May to Ocean City are the ones I’ll remember most.
Dollars hanging from the ceiling at Westside Saloon in West Wildwood, N.J. Ted Nghiem / For The Inquirer
WEST WILDWOOD
Westside Saloon
Everyone talks about the dollar bills tacked to the ceiling of the Westside Saloon like Monopoly money confetti, the result of a barroom challenge that’s added a distinctive dive bar quirkiness to this venerable tavern on the tiny isle of West Wildwood. To me, however, those bills are the least intriguing aspect of the Westside Saloon, as this watering hole — which dates to Prohibition and was once known as the Bridge Cafe — was renamed in 2003. My eyes are drawn to the crates of ripe fruit stacked near the front door, set to be juiced daily for the lineup of dangerously smooth crush cocktails made with all-natural ingredients — orange, grapefruit, pineapple, watermelon — shaken with vodka (or tequila) and seltzer. “My mother always told me that drinking would get me nowhere,” says the bar’s manager and chef, Billy Scott, 52. “But it’s worked out pretty well for me here. These drinks are my babies. They make people smile, and I’m definitely the King of the Crush now.”
The saloon is owned by the McCoy and Keating families, but Scott, a family friend, is also the culinary mind responsible for the strokes of whimsy — or cheese crimes against seafood, depending on your perspective — that have prompted the Westside Saloon to tout itself as a “five-star dive bar” that’s booming despite an independent streak with its hours (“We open when we feel like it; we close when we feel like it”) and a published phone number that’s never answered because they ripped the phone off the wall 15 years ago. (“It wouldn’t stop ringing.”)
A bartender making crush cocktails at the Westside Saloon in West Wildwood.Ted Nghiem / For The Inquirer
That reclusive attitude hasn’t slowed the crowds that wander into this trapezoid-shaped building for one of the 28 seats at the trapezoid-shaped bar (or 40 outdoor seats) to listen to live music and indulge in one of the Shore’s most unusual seafood menus, headlined by the iconic scallop Reuben. It’s an odd combination that by most conventions should not work, but Scott has access to some of the best ingredients on the East Coast through nearby Dock Street Seafood. The plump Jersey scallops offer a meaty alternative to corned beef, with a briny sweetness that harmonizes with the tangy sauerkraut, piquant Swiss cheese, and butter-toasted rye. It’s not Scott’s only seafood and dairy gambit. The stuffed long hot pepper is exploding with fresh crab and provolone, a prosciutto wrap, and a Gorgonzola finish. There’s so much crustacean in the she-crab soup that our spoon nearly stood up straight. (If it had been hotter, it would have been perfect.) Sesame-seared local tuna comes piled over crisped wonton chips for Asian nachos. But Scott’s most audacious creation is the option to order your seafood “blue,” a marinara sauce blended with Gorgonzola that added an unexpectedly appealing cave-aged funk to our bountiful seafood pasta.
Seared tuna nachos at the Westside Saloon in West Wildwood, N.J.Ted Nghiem / For The Inquirer
For those averse to seafood spectacles, the Westside’s chicken wings and “volcanic eruption” burger (a cheese-stuffed patty topped with bacon and long hots) also have fans. But what surprised me most was that the saloon makes its own desserts, including a towering key lime pie and an Oreo-encrusted cheesecake we could not stop eating. This won’t be news to anyone who knows how much passion Scott and his crew, who also recently bought a bakery, have put into making this iconoclastic institution so much more than a random dive bar.
“The only thing artificial here are my initials — B.S.,” says Scott. “When you come to the Westside Saloon, everything else is real.”
Westside Saloon, 770 W. Glenwood Ave., West Wildwood, N.J. 08260, no phone; on Facebook
Chef Alfredo Dapi rolls out pasta for pistachio gnocchi in the kitchen at Il Riccio in Cape May, N.J. Ted Nghiem / For The Inquirer
CAPE MAY
Il Riccio
There are so many Italian restaurants at the Jersey Shore, I was not particularly excited about the prospect of yet another, especially considering the newcomer most recommended to me this offseason by my local sources was located in a turnstile Cape May address where I’ve reviewed three different restaurants since 2003.
Chef Alfredo Dapi pauses while making pistachio gnocchi in the kitchen at Il Riccio in Cape May.Ted Nghiem / For The Inquirer
Number four — Il Riccio — turns out to be anything but ordinary, and not simply because the lofty prices, with dinner entrees ranging from $38 to triple digits, will make you wonder if the food is gilded. In fact, it is. But the shimmering stamps of 24-karat gold hovering above the cacio e pepe risotto are not the prime reason this showstopper dinner indulgence costs $99. That would be the quarter-pound of meltingly rich A5 Wagyu tenderloin from Hokkaido that comes seared on top, as well as the raisiny sweet swirls of reduced Amarone wine, not to mention the coveted seven-year-old aged Acquerello rice that’s cooked to al dente perfection by chef Alfredo Dapi for 19 minutes on the dot, adding the imported butter from Parma and pecorino cheese only at the end to keep it light.
“We wanted a dish that touched all the senses — sweet, salty, sour, and bitter,” says Il Riccio’s gregarious co-owner Luca Cimmarotta, 52, a Tuscan winemaker, olive oil producer, and importer who, since his earlier days as a sommelier for both Aldo Lamberti and Georges Perrier, has always wanted to open an Italian restaurant that made no compromises when it came to quality.
Il Riccio in Cape May, N.J.Ted Nghiem / For The InquirerPistachio gnocchi at Il Riccio in Cape May, N.J. Ted Nghiem / For The Inquirer
That is exactly what he’s done at Il Riccio (“the sea urchin” in Italian), the posh 50-seat BYOB he opened a year ago in a Victorian bungalow beside Collier’s Liquors with his wife, Stefania Chiaro, 46, who works in the kitchen, and their son, Michele Cimmarotta, 21, who charms the dining room as lead server.
Our night, he was offering a wild fresh Holland Dover sole whose beguilingly firm texture, delicate flavor, and roe sack (a bonus!) were expertly deboned tableside, and tasted clearly superior to the more common farm-raised and prefrozen sole found elsewhere for a third of Il Riccio’s $135 price. That includes a side of spaghetti alla chitarra laced with Cimmarotta’s own olive oil and colatura di Alici (Italian fish sauce), and easily feeds two.
Cured ham aficionados will also find rare treasures here, from the acorn-fed Spanish Ibérico ham Cimmarotta slices from a rolling cart in the dining room to the multiple varieties of Italian culatello available with truffled sottocenere cheese. The lunch menu is slightly more affordable, when you can order that risotto minus the Wagyu for $39. You can also still taste the restaurant’s signature baby octopus, a pom-pom of grilled tentacles posed over spicy broccoli rabe. I’d also suggest the soulfully stewed beef braciole stuffed with pecorino. One dish that should not be missed is Dapi’s amazing gnocchi, ethereal dumpling clouds floated across a pool of a creamy Gorgonzola turned pastel green with blended pistachios.
Nutella gelato affogato at Il Riccio in Cape May, N.J.Ted Nghiem / For The Inquirer
For dessert, ignore the more ubiquitous options and head straight for the affogato. A silky Nutella gelato is topped tableside with dark and roasty Caffé Toraldo espresso from Naples poured from a gorgeous little red moka pot designed by Dolce & Gabbana. Like everything else at Il Riccio, it brings luxury, design, quality, and flavor all together into a special fine-dining experience that actually delivers exactly what you pay for.
Il Riccio, 311 Mansion St., Cape May, N.J. 08204, 609-554-3165; ilricciocapemay.com
Mediterrano
The demise of the Exit Zero Filling Station has left a kraken squid curry-sized hole in Cape May’s funky fusion dining scene. But its unique location — a soaring dining hall fronted by a former gas station pump turned breezy al fresco patio — has been salvaged and retransformed into a vision of Greece. Cue the potted palms, painted faux-cobblestones, and cerulean blue paint job for the old filling station portico that is now a BYOB called Mediterrano. New owner Florian Furxhiu has used his playbook from Santorini, the popular Greek haunt he owns in Wildwood.
Exterior view of Mediterrano in Cape May, N.J.Ted Nghiem / For The Inquirer
A statue of Hebe, the daughter of Zeus, presides over the columned fireplace of this handsomely renovated dining room lined with blooming fake bougainvillea vines, while Santorini’s former co-chef, Caesar Jeromino, and Alban Presheva, newly arrived from Albania, turn out one Greek standard after the next.
Considering their experience, my meal was more inconsistent than I’d hoped for. The Greek meatballs in tomato sauce were unyieldingly dense. The single-serving moussaka built à la minute over a solo eggplant lacked the satisfaction of the traditional large-format casserole.
The big lamb shank, however, was impressively tender, and the butterflied whole branzino, a favorite at Santorini, was as good as ever, its flaky white flesh glazed in lemony butter sauce and capers. I have little doubt Furxhiu’s time-tested team will level up to fine-tune the rest of these dishes as summer progresses. With Ionian-like breezes whistling off the nearby Atlantic through this unique patio and the goddess Hebe casting her magic powers, one can only hope.
The remarkable reinvention of Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino from infamous wiseguy to cheesesteak mogul has been well-documented by my colleague Michael Klein. But the arrival of his popular South Philly sandwich stand at a satellite on the Wildwood boardwalk still begs a clear-eyed review, especially with his partner Joe “Lil Snuff” Perri Jr. perpetually hyping the project on social media. It’s a great story, but does that mean it’s also a tasty lunch?
Cheessteak and pizza at Joseph “Skinny Joey” Merlino’s new Skinny Joey’s Cheesesteaks during a soft opening of his new location on the boardwalk in Wildwood.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
I admit an initial pause of disappointment that the best sandwich from OG Skinny Joey’s — the roast pork sandwich — did not make it to the beach. But the marquee cheesesteaks are consistent with the original, bountifully portioned and ever-cheesy with molten Cooper Sharp on a seeded roll. It’s overall better than I anticipated given the marketing bluster, but not quite elite (I worked through a clump of gristle amid the otherwise tender chopped meat; the coarse-cut, barely cooked onions also need more love).
The gloriously messy Buffalo chicken is the true steak star here. Skinny Joey’s also does pizza in Wildwood, unlike the original, and while the round pies are average, the strombolis are fantastic. They take extra time to make, because they’re baked to order. They’re also perfectly sized to fit into the slender holster of a cardboard cheesesteak box to go. Or, eat it on-site in Skinny Joey’s pleasantly cool indoor dining room, which has the rare boardwalk perk of a private bathroom, plus the opportunity to buy lots of branded merch.
You can get pierogi and all sorts of other Eastern European treats on the boardwalk at Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach, famed for its Slavic community. A notable counterpart to be found at the Jersey Shore is the Pierogie Place, which has two separate stands on the Wildwood boardwalk. It has such a loyal following that a customer who sidled up to the register beside my family swore it was always her first stop when she arrived at the Jersey Shore (“we actually come daily”), not to mention when she visits Lincoln Financial Field, where Pierogie Place founders Liz and Bohdan Kulchyckyj also operate a location of their six-year-old comfort food tribute to Ukraine, where they lived for two decades as expats.
The Pierogie Place has two storefronts on the boardwalk in Wildwood. Pictured behind the counter at the 3116 Boardwalk location are employee Anastasiia Oleska (left) and co-owner Liz Kulchyckyj.Craig LaBan / Staff
The draw are the pierogi (or “vareniki,” as they’re called in Ukraine) offered in a variety of fillings and served with deeply caramelized onions and a dollop of sour cream. I enjoyed the potato and farmer’s cheese filling best, with the jalapeño-cheddar stuffing following close behind — even better crowned with a snappy link of kielbasa. The tortellini-like dumplings filled with pork and veal known as pelmeni are also irresistible. But don’t miss dessert of sweet cheese dumplings topped with strawberries, blueberries, or both and a cloud of whipped cream. Mingling with the aroma of salty sea air, this Slavic carnival in a box tastes particularly sweet.
The Pierogie Place, 3116 Boardwalk and 4302 Boardwalk, Wildwood; thepierogieplace.com
STONE HARBOR
Mother’s Market & Bakery
Mother’s Market & Bakery in Stone Harbor is a family affair, operated by Jennie Mopsik (center), her father, Eugene Mopsik (left) and mother, Helen Mopsik.Courtesy Mother's Market & Bakery / Eugene Mopsik
This charming new prepared foods shop in Stone Harbor checks a longtime bucket list wish for Jennie Mopsik to work alongside her parents in the Shore town where they’ve long summered together, and where she now lives year-round. This storefront market with patio seating was inspired by the home entertaining she saw her parents, Eugene and Helen Mopsik, refine over the years. So, while the shelves are stocked with well-chosen products, from top-notch pasta to Samaki smoked fish and frozen pierogi brought in from Port Richmond’s Czerw’s Polish Kielbasa, the real gems here are the specials cooked daily by her dad, a retired photographer who became known as the “Philly Loxsmith” in his tenure at Biederman’s, where he rediscovered a love of cooking. At Mother’s you’ll find him whipping up homey daily soups (cream of asparagus, gazpacho, matzo ball), fresh quiches, muffins, and excellent grab-and-go salads, including his legendary whitefish salad and a farmer’s cheese spread blended with labneh, shallots, and dill that’s my new favorite bagel schmear (not to mention Helen’s favorite happy hour snack). Jennie Mopsik is involved with the baking, too, but her talent and former business for flower arranging is also on display with custom hand-tied bouquets and orchid arrangements that she says will bloom all summer long.
Mother’s Market & Bakery, 8307 Third Ave., 1st Flr., Stone Harbor, N.J. 08247; on Instagram
Hanging candied bacon served over grits and Gully’s Blooming Potato at Gully’s in Avalon, N.J.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
AVALON
Gully’s
When I was little, the notion of a human-size seagull flapping its wings at my table might have scared me right out of my swim trunks. But the team behind Gully’s is betting on the “sassy but good-natured” energy of its friendly weekend-only mascot, Gully, along with competitive Monday minnow races and updated American pub fare to bring some “old-school beachy vibes” to their makeover of the pergola-wrapped al fresco resto-bar in Avalon that was previously Black Cactus. And … it just might work?
Gully’s is more affordable than its predecessor and the diner-plus menu has a lower success bar to clear. But the food is also a notch better than it has to be, with fresh figs scattered over balsamic and a creamy hunk of burrata with prosciutto, a well-built chicken Caesar wrap, plump shrimp for the feta-dusted Mediterranean salad, and “skinny” crushes made with fresh juice and seltzer (not soda) to wash it down.
The Orange Crush and Super Spritz cocktails at Gully’s in Avalon, N.J.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
A bland and creamy “peri peri” chicken entree was one disappointment for a sauce that should have been spicy. But stick with the menu’s less challenging top half and you should be fine, especially with a tray of spiralized “blooming potato” chips and a clothesline of candied bacon that dangles over a tasty plate of grits — not an original idea, but delicious. They’re so good, I was thinking Gully’s mascot should actually be a human-size piece of bacon just as our outdoor table was suddenly attacked by a relentless swarm of dune gnats. The service team stepped up when a cheerful manager appeared to offer guests some bug spray. (“BYO-bug spray next time?” he joked.) Of course, seagulls eat bugs, too, so Gully the mascot may, in fact, be just the hero we’ve been waiting for. Go Birds!
The exterior of Johnny Cutlets in Sea Isle City, N.J.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
SEA ISLE CITY
Johnny Cutlets
The old Steve’s Grilled Cheese is out. The crispy new swagger of Johnny Cutlets is in. And this smartly revamped Sea Isle City shop is already making a serious bid to join the elite ranks of the Jersey Shore’s sandwich derby. The cutlets are the main event, hand-breaded with two kinds of crumbs, Parmesan and herbes de Provence for a soft herbal note, then fried daily at a lower-than-usual temperature to try to maintain the juicy tenderness of a home-cooked cutlet. I was impressed, especially with its South Philly-style signature served with sharp provolone, broccoli rabe, and a long hot pepper draped over the top of a seeded Aversa’s roll. The Drunken Johnny with vodka sauce and the MJ with fresh mozz and balsamic are also popular cutlet options, but don’t sleep on Johnny’s steaks. They’re more manageably portioned than the overstuffed, overly cheesed steaks currently trending on social media, but I admired the balance of quality ingredients here.
Chef Shawn (no last name given), fries cutlets at Johnny Cutlets in Sea Isle City, NJ.Monica Herndon / Staff PhotographerThe MJ features a chicken cutlet with mozzarella, arugula, cherry tomatoes, hot honey, and balsamic glaze at Johnny Cutlets in Sea Isle City, N.J.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
This project is a collaboration between Steve’s former owners, twins Stephen and Fred Freda, and their new partner, “Johnny Cutlets” Markulics, who concluded that fried chicken and cheesesteaks have more “healthy living” appeal than grilled cheese. That’s probably not a scientific conclusion. But if early sales are an indication — selling up to 400 sandwiches a day — the theory wins a popularity contest. It’s just as likely that rebranding with Markulics front and center was also key. An AI-generated portrait of the vividly tattooed body shop owner, whose look Stephen Freda affectionately characterizes as “a friendly, semiscary face,” became the shop’s logo and sign, along with the bold catch phrase, “famous ‘cause I say so.” It’s a bravado this feisty little sandwich shop might actually live up to.
Johnny Cutlets, 27 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Sea Isle City, N.J. 08243, 609-486-6003; johnnycutletssic.com
Dylan Bear, owner of Alex’s Pizza, at 1214 Boardwalk, Ocean City, N.J.Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer
OCEAN CITY
Alex’s Pizza
A smash burger with onions and cheese is one of the specialties at the new boardwalk location in Ocean City for Alex’s Pizza from Roxborough.Craig LaBan / Staff
The best part of opening a Jersey Shore branch of a classic Philly pizzeria is that you have a built-in loyal clientele. The bad news is that loyal clientele. They know your pies better than anyone, and if it doesn’t measure up then … well, meet Michele B., a lifelong Roxborough resident seated beside me who grew up eating at Alex’s Pizza, a standby at Pechin and Leverington since the 1960s. She traveled to the Ocean City location specifically to taste a slice of her youth, and while these thin-crusted rounds looked the part, with a signature swirl of red sauce spiraled across the top, there wasn’t nearly enough of it: “It’s too dry!” said Michele bluntly. “Not enough sauce.” To his credit, the manager of this new boardwalk venture was eager for feedback, since he’d never eaten at the Roxborough original himself. An experimental pie with sauerkraut and hot dogs had more pizzazz, albeit a niche audience (me). But Alex’s does one thing especially well: smash burgers. The patties on my double stack were swiftly griddled to an impressively crisp and lacy skirt, then layered with onions and oozy cheese that trapped all of its juices. While Alex’s may indeed one day offer an upgrade to the multitude of boardwalk pizza mediocrity, the local burger competition is considerably more scarce. And this one’s worth the trip.
Alex’s Pizza, 1214 Boardwalk, Ocean City, N.J. 08226; 609-862-0062; alexspizzaocnj.com
Kyma
The Beach Baklava yogurt topped with chunks of the Greek pastry, chocolate sauce, and pistachios is one of the highlights at Kyma, a new Greek yogurt cafe in Ocean City.Craig LaBan / Staff
When it comes to island refreshments, Greece has a historic head start of a few thousand years on the Jersey Shore. So I was excited that the Siganos family behind Ocean City’s classic Greek diner, Yianni’s Cafe, opened a frozen treat destination nearby on Asbury Avenue with something different from the norm. Kyma serves Greek-style frozen yogurt that carries a refreshing tartness absent in most standard soft-serve, but its elaborately composed bowls are what caught my eye, especially the “Beach Baklava,” a swirling tower of frozen yogurt drizzled with chocolate, pistachios, berries, and flaky hunks of baklava pastry. There’s another bowl scattered with crunchy kataifi, almonds, and honey and another trendy Dubai-themed bowl drenched in green pistachio sauce and chocolate. There are some more familiar offerings — smoothies, açaí bowls — for maximum audience appeal. But the other prime bonus for me is the bold punch of one of the world’s original iced coffees: frappé, a Greek specialty invented in 1957 that whips instant Nescafé with sugar, water, and milk into a stiff peak that gets shaken with ice into a powerfully caffeinated foam.
Kyma, 838 B Asbury Ave., Ocean City, N.J. 08226, 609-545-2290; kymaoc.com
Island Grill
Crab imperial is one of the classic standards at Island Grill in Ocean City.Craig LaBan / Staff
The last time I visited Island Grill in 2021, the chowder and coconut shrimp were being delivered by Peanut the robot, on lease by the restaurant’s owners to cope with a severe pandemic labor shortage. Peanut is gone from Island Grill now, even if food service robots are now everywhere else. But this standby on the island’s northern end is once again humming full steam ahead for walk-in crowds that pack the nautical-themed space, now in its 30th year cooking fresh seafood from its retail market. The vast menu offers classics like fried or broiled fish platters from its extensive fresh catch board, fish tacos, and a broiled crab imperial glazed in zesty sauce that showcased the bounty of sweet meat. What’s also laudable about Island Grill is an extensive selection of gluten-free offerings that are carefully made to avoid cross contamination, from the pecan-crusted salmon to a gf key lime pie and twin crab cakes that were so good my celiac daughter questioned whether she’d received the wrong order. She had not. The kitchen also offers traditional crab cakes, but the gluten-free variety is convincingly bound with rice.
Island Grill, 100 Atlantic Ave., Ocean City, N.J. 08226, 609-391-9616; ocnjislandgrill.com
Mastery Cramer Hill students Joshua Medina and Alyssa Negron were feeling confident about their chances in the MLB Players STEM League regional tournament last month at Drexel.
The two 14-year-olds were competing against 24 other middle schoolers in a board game in which players use statistics to draft teams and batting lineups. MLB Players STEM League is a baseball-inspired program created by the Major League Baseball Players Association’s Players Trust that integrates the real-world game into the classroom.
“The strategies that me and Alyssa had, nobody could take it and use it for themselves,” Medina said. “We felt [empowered] to win everything. And some of the competitors were my classmates, and they were cheering us on in the final game. It was very heartwarming.”
Medina and Negron finished with a 4-1 record to take home the title, win tickets to a Phillies game, and earn a behind-the-scenes look at the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby.
“These students are two of many incredible achievers who have done great and have learned from the game,” said Amy Hever, executive director of the Players Trust. “And they are going to be seen by many. We are excited about seeing how other students and other youth are like, ‘Wow, that could be me. I could have this opportunity and also get to play this really cool, fun game. Sign me up.’”
Although the STEM League led to an opportunity for the Negron family to attend the All-Star festivities, Alyssa’s father, Jonathan, is more proud of her growth in her first year competing.
“She’s been more open to trying new things than before,” Jonathan said. “She never really wanted to before, but this was her last year at Mastery, so I was like, ‘Hey, let’s try whatever you want. I got your back. We’ll get through it together.’ And she tried this out, and she said her math wasn’t that good. But, hey, they both came out together and got through it.”
Medina and Negron met players like Brandon Marsh on the field at the Phillies game against the New York Mets that they attended. Now, they’re looking forward to meeting even more All-Stars this weekend.
“It was really fun meeting the players,” Alyssa said. “Like, you hear about them all on TV. So to meet one in person was a good experience. I’m looking forward to meeting new players and spending time with everybody who is going. I want to meet Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Shohei Ohtani.”
Joshua Medina, 14, and Alyssa Negron, 14, met the Phillies’ Brandon Marsh ahead of a game against the New York Mets last month.Players Trust
Medina and Negron aren’t the only ones who will be treated to a behind-the-scenes All-Star experience. Through the Players Trust’s Players Exchange program, which teaches communication skills through insight from MLB players, 12-year-old Philadelphia native Isabella Gonzales will act as an interview correspondent during media day.
Players Trust also partnered with Kyle Schwarber’s Neighborhood Heroes, which supports first responders, military personnel, and their families, to bring the family of late Central Berks Regional Police Officer Kristen Yeager for a close-up of the All-Star action.
Yeager died in a crash as she was responding to an emergency call on May 29. She left behind three children: Tanner (9), Conner (8), and Carli (5) and her husband, Dustin.
“It’s amazing, you know, the people that do this stuff behind the scenes,” Dustin said. “You don’t necessarily know that it’s going on until there’s an unfortunate event. But in my case, it’s just amazing that there’s people out there willing to do that work and give you and others that experience when you’re at a loss. For the kids to have that experience to see the park, to get that distraction, to let them know there’s good out there even when bad things happen. There’s still people that do amazing things and help you out.”
This won’t be the first time the family experiences Citizens Bank Park. A few weeks after the incident, Schwarber met with the family on the field.
“We went down and met him, and he sat with the kids for a little bit and invited us to the Home Run Derby,” Dustin said. “I think it’s still hard for them to even grasp the whole situation like how good of a player he is, how lucky they are to be able to sit with him for half an hour and talk to him. They just asked questions like ‘How many home runs he hit?’ They were interested and happy to meet him.”
Dustin, who works at FirstEnergy Stadium, and his family typically attend Reading Fightin’ Phils games. But the 10,000-seat minor league park is dwarfed by the 42,901-seat Citizens Bank Park.
“It’s cool to see their eyes open up when you walk down there and see something that big on that scale,” Dustin said. “Having them be on the field again, that’s just a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the kids. Just looking forward to their reaction and even afterward, explaining to them how lucky they are to get this experience, even though it came from a tragedy.”
Some weekends are just dates on the calendar. Others become part of history.
America’s 250th anniversary was one of those weekends.
Philadelphia, where the nation began, became the center of the celebration. Across days marked by extreme heat, thunderstorms, fireworks, a canceled parade, and a World Cup match, The Inquirer’s photographers captured the defining moments — and the quieter ones in between — creating a portrait of the country at 250.
After days of closed streets, parking restrictions, and traffic backups leading up to the weekend, Jessica Griffin planned to ride to cover the Wawa Salute to Independence Semiquincentennial Parade. But it was canceled amid a declared heat emergency with 100-degree temperatures before she even left her house.
Instead, she found all the floats — moved overnight from the Pennsylvania Convention Center to Independence Mall in preparation for the parade — in an unofficial parade away from the Historic District.
The cancellation gave the many would-be paraders the opportunity to perform around Center City. Summer intern Aidan T. Gallo photographed Imajin Taiko, a lively dance group from Nakijin, Okinawa, Japan, performing outside Reading Terminal Market.
Musicians, Colonial reenactors in sweat-soaked wool, and visitors (also sweaty) wandered the Historic District looking for something to do. It led to impromptu pageantry around Independence Hall. Marching bands did their (stationary) thing, taking turns performing on the grassy mall.
Working the scene, I was able to frame three different bands at once. The Montrose Marching Unit Alumni Band from Susquehanna County was leaving as the Triuggio Marching Band, a community group from the northern Italian city of Triuggio, and a Falun Gong drum band from New York prepared to perform.
On the Fourth, Tyger Williams found photographing the National Constitution’s Liberty Medal presentation an interesting experience even though the honoree, the U.S.-born pope and Villanova alum, Pope Leo XIV, wasn’t physically there.
Finding a compelling way to photograph someone appearing only on a screen wasn’t easy, he said. “I wanted to be able to show the atmosphere when the Pope was speaking and show the impact he has to those listening to him.”
Jose F. Moreno wanted to create a simple, straightforward portrait essay on the people we often see in costume walking through the Historic District to recognize the people “whose passion, knowledge, and dedication help tell Philadelphia’s story as the city celebrates this historic milestone.”
By using a plain white background and removing all distractions, the focus remained entirely on the individuals and the history they represent. He photographed each History Maker one after another, asking them to “do nothing more than be themselves.” He only made two or three frames of each person against a plain white background.
Courtney Mitchell, who portrays Margaret Woodby, a free Black woman who owned a cake-baking business, smiled during her full-length portrait before turning slightly to the side.
On the morning of the Fourth, I covered the burial of “America’s Time Capsule” in Independence National Historical Park. Before the ceremony, dignitaries posed with Indy, a bald eagle from the Auburn University Raptor Center. Suddenly, another bird of prey swooped down asserting its territory.
I wasn’t actively photographing the scene, but luckily my camera settings were already dialed in. I managed to capture a frame just as the hawk came within striking distance. Indy — who made her first appearance at a Philadelphia Eagles game in 2023 — and her handler spent the rest of the photo opportunity watching the skies overhead.
Also on Saturday, Gallo was back covering neighborhood block parties. In Point Breeze, he heard kids sliding down an inflatable bounce water slide — a block party staple. What he didn’t expect was to see multiple children sliding all at once, including a little girl holding onto her popsicle.
By the time she got to the bottom, the popsicle was knocked out of her hands into the pool. “Luckily, I pressed the shutter at the right times to capture the popsicle and its flying pieces mid-air.”
Jill Scott takes to the stage for One Philly: Unity Concert for America on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday, July 4, 2026, in Philadelphia.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Kim and Elizabeth Robertson evacuated the area during the more than three-hour rain and lightning display, eventually taking shelter beneath the canopy of a gas station along Spring Garden Street.
Monica Herndon had been at The Inquirer for more than six years, but this was her first time covering the Parkway concert and fireworks. She “definitely did not expect to still be out there at 2:30 a.m.”
As the storm soaked the area, she waited it out in her car, “eating snacks and singing along to Christina Aguilera hits.” Once the concert resumed, she grabbed her tripod and headed down the Parkway deciding to “set up farther back than usual, hoping to make an image that felt a little different from the fireworks photos I’d seen in years past.”
Herndon used a slow shutter speed, alternating between one and two seconds, “to let the fireworks expand across the frame.” She made lots of images but liked the one with streaks of light that felt “organic and almost painterly…I also love the small starbursts created by the stage lights, a result of shooting at a narrow aperture [f/18].”
A few days before Sunday’s World Cup Round of 16 match, David Maialetti began preparing by cleaning his gear and checking his cameras. He knew the extreme heat was going to be a challenge so kept himself extra hydrated leading up to the match, dressed in loose-fitting, sweat-wicking clothing, and topped it off with a bucket hat.
“The last thing I wanted,” he said, “was to pass out during a key goal and end up a highlight on SportsCenter.”
David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Before kickoff, he photographed fans and the sweltering conditions, including a security guard dripping with sweat before France faced Paraguay.
His game plan sounded solid on paper until he realized the top of his cameras would “feel like a sizzling frying pan.” He knew the electronics could malfunction if they overheated and “gripping a hunk of hot metal for a few hours,” would not be the most comfortable way to work. His “brilliant hack in the moment,” was to turn his camera upside down so the controls weren’t exposed to the blazing sun. “It was totally awkward like trying to ride a bicycle backwards.”
Fortunately, newer cameras automatically reorient the electronic viewfinder, so after a few minutes it began to feel natural.
His plan kept the cameras cool enough to capture France’s lone goal by superstar Kylian Mbappé. The only downside: every image had to be rotated before he could file on deadline.
National Park Ranger Maggie Burkett holds an oversized replica of the Declaration of Independence while guiding visitors on a tour of the Assembly Room in Independence Hall (then called the Pennsylvania State House) where the Second Continental Congress met and the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
In the month leading up to the weekend, I worked on a photo essay on the local Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania Founders who signed the Declaration of Independence. With help from their lineage organization, I met and photographed direct descendants of the often overlooked men who were here with the Second Continental Congress as America was born.
The Town Crier of Hopewell, N.J., and his wife, Stanley and Cindy Saperstein, attend Hopewell’s USA 250th Town-Wide Block Party in June. John Hart, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, is buried at the Old School Baptist Church there.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer
Since 1998 a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in the print editions of The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
After 18 combined men’s and women’s World Cups over 40 years, American soccer’s most decorated play-by-play voice is stepping back from the sport’s biggest stage.
JP Dellacamera told The Inquirer that he has called his last World Cup game, and that it is his choice. He now waves goodbye after calling 11 men’s World Cups and seven women’s World Cups.
“Every year since 2006, the [men’s] World Cup in Germany, I have always looked at it like this could be the last one. Because you didn’t know which network [would] have it, you didn’t know about your own health and well-being — you have to stay healthy to do as many World Cups as you possibly can. … I think that the combination of this one being in our country again, and this being the last one for now on Fox, makes me want to go out this way in terms of the World Cup.”
He is not fully retiring. The 74-year-old will continue to call NWSL games for CBS Sports and ION, and hopes to continue working with Fox on its other soccer properties — in particular next year’s Concacaf Gold Cup and the 2028 European Championship.
“If Fox had [the World Cup] and they wanted me, I would stay with it,” he said. “I think I can be involved with the NWSL for two or three more years. And if Fox has other tournaments and they want me to do them, I can still do them.”
JP Dellacamera (left) at work for Fox during the 2019 women’s World Cup.Fox Sports
Otherwise, he said, “it was not a hasty decision. I’ve thought about it. But it’s the right time.”
The record will show that his last World Cup game was the Switzerland-Algeria round of 32 contest in Vancouver, B.C., on July 2. Coincidentally, one of his most famous days on air came in the same city and stadium, BC Place: the 2015 women’s World Cup final, where Carli Lloyd’s hat trick carried the U.S. to its first championship in 16 years.
“When you’re doing [a call with] a world feed and you’re not sure what the next picture is going to be, I don’t like to get caught in a story,” he said. “And I didn’t want to make it sound like it was me and my memory. So I passed on it, but I did think about it for sure.”
The previous title in 1999 still stands as No. 1, when he was on ABC’s call (which FIFA used as the world feed) of the final that vaulted women’s soccer into America’s mainstream for the first time. As has long been his trademark, he kept his call of Brandi Chastain’s winning penalty kick to just one syllable — “Goal!” — and let the scene carry the rest.
Dellacamera worked 10 games this summer, all with former U.S. women’s team and Philadelphia Independence midfielder Lori Lindsey. The first of them was Ivory Coast-Ecuador at Lincoln Financial Field, which let him return to the city where he was the Union’s local TV voice for over a decade. Last year, the club named the main broadcast booth at Subaru Park in his honor.
“Sometimes I look at signs, and one of the signs was that my very first game was going to be in Philadelphia, where I spent 13 years with the Union,” he said. “And so that meant something to me.”
Not all 10 games were classics, but he got his share of drama: late winners in Ivory Coast-Ecuador and Ghana-Panama, Cape Verde fighting Uruguay to a 2-2 tie, and the wild endings to Austria-Algeria and Belgium-Senegal. Those moments and others brought the latest rounds of praise from viewers who have long enjoyed hearing Dellacamera’s calls.
“People have said a lot of kind things to me over the years,” he said. “The one that usually gets to me is when somebody thanks me for being the voice for them for so long. You don’t realize that until somebody says, ‘You’re the voice I grew up with.’ … Things like that, they mean a lot to me, and I think as you get closer to the end of your career, it means more than it ever did.”
Alex Morgan scores her first goal since the opening game and retakes the lead in the Golden Boot race (6 goals, 3 assists)
JP Dellacamera (right) with broadcast partner Tony Meola at one of the World Cup games they’ve called for Fox Sports.Courtesy of Fox Sports
“I’ve never taken World Cups for granted,” he said. “The fact that I did one didn’t mean I was guaranteed to do two; the fact that I did six didn’t mean I was going to get to seven. So, I’ve never looked at it that way. It’s always been a privilege to do it — and you have to have luck in this business, too.”
These days, there are more American voices calling the world’s game than ever. John Strong leads Fox’s men’s soccer coverage, Tyler Terens joined the network this summer after years calling MLS games on Apple TV, and Mike Watts is a stalwart voice of the NWSL and USL. Dellacamera appreciates how they are another sign of the sport’s growth.
“The future of American soccer broadcasting is in great hands because of all the young talent that we’ve been able to develop over the years,” he said. “I’m very comfortable in knowing that we have a lot of depth, and a lot of talent.”
LAS VEGAS — Last summer, Dominick Barlow joined the 76ers on a two-way contract in the middle of the NBA Summer League, and jumped right into game action.
Barlow was back in a nondescript, off-the-Strip gym Friday afternoon to work out while the 2026 summer Sixers practiced. A “fun year” unfolded between these two trips to the desert, when Barlow became a part-time starter, earned a standard contract, and had his $3.4 million team option for the 2026-27 season picked up before free agency began.
Now, Barlow is an example — and available resource — for the players hoping to impress the Sixers (and other teams) in Las Vegas.
“Just to show the organization [that] we don’t just care about ourselves,” Barlow said of why he came to Las Vegas this year. “We care about everyone, whether it’s Summer League, G League, and our team. We care about every step it’s going to take.
“You never know, one of these guys can be playing and helping us win, so you want to establish a relationship.”
Once Barlow joined the summer Sixers last year, coach T.J. DiLeo immediately praised the forward for crashing the glass “all the time,” running the floor, switching defensively, and providing instant leadership as a player with NBA experience. Barlow then enjoyed the best season of his four-year career, averaging 7.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.2 assists and thriving as a cutter and high-energy player in 71 games with 59 starts.
Dominick Barlow (right) could take on a larger role with Kelly Oubre Jr. heading to Indiana this offseason.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The 23-year-old’s role could change in 2026-27. Though forwards Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr. have departed the Sixers, Jaylen Brown and Dean Wade have arrived as projected starters. LeBron James’ decision still looms, with the Sixers reportedly in the mix. Barlow said Friday that he had not yet spoken to Brown, but is “super excited” to add the All-NBA second-teamer to the established group headlined by electric guards Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe and former MVP Joel Embiid. The blockbuster trade could vault the Sixers into contender status.
“Things happen fast,” Barlow said. “I don’t know if that’s something that we expected to happen, but here we are. It’s exciting. Obviously he’s an elite player. MVP candidate this year. His team [the Boston Celtics] was really good without [injured Jayson] Tatum, so I thought [Brown] did an excellent job leading that group.”
Balow said he has worked extensively this offseason on his shooting, a clear weakness in an otherwise well-rounded game. He has added weight and strength to his 6-foot-9 frame. He said he now has full range of motion back in the elbow he injured last season.
Barlow has brought that offseason routine to Las Vegas, and sat courtside for the Sixers’ win over the Detroit Pistons on Thursday afternoon at Cox Pavillon. Barlow was impressed with rookie Labaron Philon Jr., noting the crafty guard plays with a “swag about him that you really can’t teach.” Barlow also has chatted with new two-way signee Caleb Love, offering a message of, “Do what you’re supposed to do, and you’ll get a chance to play.”
Barlow’s advice holds weight. He is an example of how to turn a Sixers Summer League opportunity into a career season, and is now back in Las Vegas as a resource to the 2026 squad.
“Be around,” Barlow said. “Just establish a culture.”
I’ve been mesmerized by kibbeh nayyeh since my days as a teenage busboy at Phoenicia, the trailblazing Lebanese fine-dining destination just outside of Detroit in Birmingham, Mich. It was my first encounter with a dish that showcased raw meat — in this case, puréed raw lamb mixed with bulgur wheat and spices. And my determination to eat as much of it as possible while on extra-long breaks in the walk-in (instead of cleaning tables) was likely one reason I wasn’t a very good busboy. It did provide, however, one of the earliest sparks in my career as a curious eater. Now, I order it almost every chance I get.
But no kibbeh nayyeh has stopped me in my tracks and triggered a childhood flashback quite like the incredibly soft and vividly spiced version at Suraya. One of the first recipes taught to executive chef Nick Kennedy by Maude El-Harouny — the Lebanese mother of co-owners Roland Kassis and Nathalie Richan — before Suraya’s 2017 opening, it’s a picture of the classic dish at its best. Lean lamb loin is puréed to a silky smoothness before it’s blended with bulgur, puréed onions, jalapeños, and herbs — basil, marjoram, allspice, mint, and cinnamon — before getting shaped into a dimpled pink puck with deep divots for good olive oil.
The spreadable, pâté-like base itself is flavorful enough, but that peppery olive oil and the garnish piled on top, with sumac-dusted raw onions and basil and mint that deliver a contrast of juicy crunch and herbal freshness, elevates the dish overall to another level. One that’s powerful enough to remind me of my first transporting raw taste of kibbeh nayyeh several decades ago. Suraya, 1528 Frankford Ave., 215-302-1900, surayaphilly.com
— Craig LaBan
Omakase at Kissho House
Omakase experiences in Philadelphia run the boardfrom the $78 tasting at Yuhiro in Fishtown to the $355 extravaganza in the back room of James Beard Award-winning chef Jesse Ito’s Royal Sushi & Izakaya. How about one with ambition and value, priced down the middle?
For that, there’s chef Jeff Chen’s Edomae-style omakase at his 12-seat counter downstairs at Kissho House, which opened last year in a former Rittenhouse law office. Chen, a Hiroki alum, delivers the goods without gimmicks, from the appetizers (octopus, asari clams, and Japanese river crab) through the nigiri sequence, which caps off with a toro hand roll and clam soup, followed by strawberry monaka for dessert. Few $150 omakases include well-sourced ingredients (anago from Tsushima, akami from Spain, uni from Hokkaido), and creative bites like king salmon with dry tomato, truffle sauce, and roe in a spring roll shell, plus Wagyu with sea bream and caviar. Kissho House, 1522 Locust St., 610-332-7387, kisshohouse.com
— Michael Klein
The Bai Cha Sach Mon (chicken fried rice with chinese sausage) at Heng Seng Restaurant, 2217 S. Seventh St.Kiki Aranita / Staff
Chicken fried rice with Chinese sausage (Bai Cha Sach Mon) at Heng Seng Restaurant
I went to Heng Seng Restaurant in South Philly with a craving for Cambodian dry egg noodles. At $15 for a small portion, they hit the spot, bouncy and crinkled yet firm with a side of beef shank bone broth for dipping or sipping. But there was a sleeper hit: the $17 chicken fried rice (called bai cha sach mon in Khmer) with smoky, sweet lap cheong or Chinese sausage.
I usually think of fried rice as a little silly but also a little clever — an excellent way for a restaurant to use day-old rice, which makes for better fried rice than fresh rice. So when the platter landed in front of me, I was delighted but also a little perplexed. How could these slivers of chicken be so tender and flavorful? How could the individual grains of jasmine rice have such a lovely robust texture? Heng Seng’s dishes are heavily influenced by Teochew cuisine (Chinese Cambodians are primarily Teochew Chinese, originally from the Chaoshan region in eastern Guangdong) with its exceptionally earthy, savory fried rice. With a little bit of egg, scallion, and that sweet lap cheong seeping fat into the rice, this version is certainly worth seeking out. Heng Seng Restaurant, 2217 S. Seventh St., 215-755-5390, hengsengrestaurant.com
— Kiki Aranita
The chicken liver mousse at Royal Boucherie, 52 S. Second St.Beatrice Forman / Staff
Chicken liver mousse at Royal Boucherie
I’ve long considered chicken liver mousse the gateway drug to my beloved chopped liver. Its creamy texture and less polarizing flavor is a good stepping stone to the hard stuff — the chunkier, funkier, and less ritzy mounds of chopped liver behind the counter at most respectable Jewish delis. If it’s your first time eating spreadable liver, the mousse at Old City’s Royal Boucherie is perfect, a textbook example served in a cute little mason jar with crusty bread and cornichons on the side for dipping. Topped with a seasonal berry jam and flecks of flaky salt, the mousse has all the right flavors: a little sweet, a little earthy and rich without feeling heavy. I scraped the jar clean.
A beloved Eagles player moved to our neighborhood. I have to pass by his house every time I drop off or pick up my son from daycare. And every time I inevitably stare at his house, and then tell myself “be cool, be cool.” I did one time throw a “Go Birds!” at him when he stopped his car to let me cross the sidewalk. How many more “Go Birds” do I get? Should we, as his new neighbors, pretend he’s not a Super Bowl champion?!
Earl Hopkins, Arts & Entertainment reporter
First off, living in the same neighborhood as an Eagles player is THE ultimate flex.
Second, as journalists we’ve mastered the ability to hide our fandom behind a resting reporter face, so my views may be a little skewed. But it still stands: One “Go Birds” is enough. (All right, maybe two.)
Let the man settle in the neighborhood first, then introduce yourself as if he’s another resident. I’m sure he doesn’t mind being recognized for his athletic achievements, but I recommend getting to know the person beyond the uniform first.
Stephanie, what do you think?
Stephanie Farr, features columnist
You definitely have a much cooler resting reporter face than I do. I agree that one or two “Go Birds” is enough.
It matters how close this person lives to the Eagles player. If they’re next door or two houses over from him, introducing yourself to your new neighbor — maybe with a box of cookies or soft pretzels — to welcome them to the neighborhood is a good avenue. If you live farther away than that though it will look fangirl-ish.
Earl, what do you think if the neighbors all conspired together to throw a neighborhood party and invited this Bird over? Would that be too obvious?
Earl Hopkins
I don’t think it would be too obvious, as long as people avoid swarming him with Eagles jerseys to sign. It’s summertime, and plenty of neighborhood parties are popping up across the city. It would be a good opportunity to enjoy the weather, commune with folks who have been bound to their couches all year, and it would be a chance to properly welcome the beloved Eagle into the area’s inner-circle.
Now, what if the welcome attempts and party invites are rejected? What should be the next move lol?
Stephanie Farr
Leave him alone and treat him like any other neighbor who wants to keep to themselves, or you risk ticking off someone you obviously admire. I think about what I would want if I were in the player’s shoes. I can’t imagine not having anonymity or a little peace and quiet — especially at your own house. I feel like if he wants to be neighborly, he will make it known.
Do you think approaching the Eagles player about something other than the Eagles could be a good avenue? Like, “Hey, dude. I love your topiary. Who’s your landscaper?”
(I’m assuming if this person lives in the same neighborhood as an Eagles player they have topiaries and landscapers, but it could be about anything they see they may have in common.)
Earl Hopkins
If he doesn’t want to be bothered, leave him be. He’s probably, y’know, focusing on winning a Super Bowl. Give him grace so we can feel the thrill of another championship run.
Stephanie Farr
Go Birds, but don’t randomly go up and hound Birds on the street. Sprinkle breadcrumbs and if they want to be your neighbor friend they’ll let you know. And if they don’t, take a cue from a former Eagle and don’t care if they don’t like you.
The anger over the U.S. men’s soccer team’s ugly exit from the World Cup is starting to turn to the next stage of grief: looking forward to a new era of players.
No one needs to tell Cavan Sullivan that he’s on many observers’ prospect lists. He already knows. And the 16-year-old got a taste of what could come for him in four years when he attended the U.S.-Belgium game with the big-time agency that represents him, The Team (formerly called Wasserman).
“It was my first USA game,” he said. “It was an amazing experience — Seattle’s a great soccer city. Just listening to the anthem and hearing 70,000 people singing, it was just truly sick to see, and I can’t wait to be there one day.”
But the point stands: Sullivan will be 20 by then, starting to enter the prime of his career, and, the hope is, progressing at his future club home, the English Premier League’s Manchester City. If he plays well with the Union and U.S. national teams, the hype around him will continue to grow.
Cavan Sullivan has played 772 minutes over 17 games for the Union this year in all competitions.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
“I do feel supported by the U.S. fan base, and it is really cool to see,” he said. “I love this country. I love representing it. … But I’m not too focused on what critics or other people have to say, whether it’s good or bad. I’ve said that for a while now: I’m just focused on myself and getting better.”
There won’t be a lack of opportunities. Over the year and a half Sullivan has left in Chester, there will be an under-17 World Cup, an under-20 World Cup, and the start of the under-23 team’s preparations for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Perhaps there could even be an invitation to the senior team’s Concacaf Gold Cup squad next year if the manager in charge decides to take young prospects.
Right now, though, none of that is on his mind.
“I’m just focused on my stuff here with the club and any youth national team call-ups I get,” he said. “Everything’s an opportunity to show what I can do, and I’m looking to show the world what I can do this next part of the season and with whatever’s thrown my way.”
Cavan Sullivan played for the U.S. at last year’s Under-17 World Cup.Chris Ricco
The Union’s season resumes July 22 with a home game against Red Bull New York, which has own much-touted young Americans in forward Julian Hall and midfielder Adri Mehmeti. (Sullivan is close friends with Hall and said he sent a text message joking that “I’m going to kick him the first chance I get.”)
By then, it will have been 59 days since their last official contest on May 24. Players who weren’t going to the World Cup got around two weeks off, then returned to Chester on June 16 to resume training.
Sullivan spent some of the time with his family at their Shore place in Sea Isle City and training with his father Brendan, a teacher at the Union’s high school and former pro player, up the road in Ocean City. He also spent plenty of time in Chester, including an appearance with the Union’s reserve squad in a friendly game against Ivory Coast when Les Éléphants were in town for the World Cup.
“I was just trying to stay fit because I know that this second half of the season will provide a lot of opportunity,” he told The Inquirer. “And possibly some great moments. Because I do feel confident we can turn this season around. … And it’s great to be back, with a new coach, and see the guys again.”
Cavan Sullivan (left) in action during Union II’s exhibition game against Ivory Coast last month.Philadelphia Union
Indeed, three days after the World Cup break began, the Union fired manager Bradley Carnell and promoted reserve team coach Ryan Richter to the top spot as an interim. While it remains to be seen whether Richter can steer a team with the league’s worst record (1-10-4, 7 points) to this year’s playoffs, he assuredly has a close bond with Sullivan. That should translate into a robust amount of playing time.
“Obviously, I’m really familiar with Richter and [assistants] Henry [Apaloo] and Fred,” he said. “Not just from my work with the second team, but also Ryan since I was like 9 years old. We have a great relationship, so it’s exciting, man. New beginnings.”
While waiting for the season to resume, the Union have played closed-door scrimmages in Chester vs. Houston and New England and on the road at New York City FC. There will be one more closed scrimmage next week against D.C. United at the University of Maryland.
From all accounts, Sullivan has played well in all the contests.
One thing is for certain, Cavan Sullivan is getting his chances, playing with a ton of confidence, and is a spark for the Union.
Here are some clips from the 60'-65'ish minutes today… he gets a couple quality shots, including a fantastic volley that goes on target (4th clip),… pic.twitter.com/UXmbUkRRZF
“He’s been great in the three games: he’s affecting the games and being decisive in the games,” Richter said. “You saw flashes of it in the beginning of the season, and then the last couple games, he definitely came on really strong before the break. He needs to take that step now, where it’s not just things that look good, but it’s being decisive, and he’s done that in every game so far.”
Though it can be hard to draw too many judgments on the team, given all the substitutions, there does seem to be an uptick in players’ spirits.
“We’ve got a new energy to us and a new style, and we’re moving the ball a lot, and we’re keeping that same identity in terms of defensive press and the aggressiveness,” he said. “But we’re moving the ball a lot, and seems like we’re doing well and getting chances from it. So just looking to keep that up and be dangerous in the season.”
As bad as the record is, MLS is eternally forgiving. Nine of each conference’s 15 teams make the playoffs, and the 11-point gap to ninth-place D.C. United can be closed in the 19 league games that remain. Sullivan was emphatic when asked if he believes this team can do so.
“Yeah,” he said. “I mean, we’re a playoff team, so we’ve got to act like it, and we’ve got to get there.”
Toyota took heat for years for being slow to jump on the electric-vehicle bandwagon.
But the world’s largest automaker was planning later this year to showcase its revved-up EV ambitions with the debut of a new flagship Lexus EV. It was supposed to kick-start Toyota’s hopes of making the brand all-electric by 2035. Bye-bye, gas.
Then President Donald Trump killed off the $7,500 tax credit for buying or leasing a new EV, allowing the popular program to expire in September. The White House rolled back fuel economy standards. Auto loans got more expensive as interest rates shot up.
Within months, U.S. EV sales cratered — down 27% in the first quarter this year compared with 2025, said Cox Automotive.
As a result, automakers have been busy scrapping EV models and writing off billions in investments.
In May, Toyota abandoned its electrified Lexus “in light of the surrounding environment.” Honda canned three EV models for the American market and took a $9 billion EV-related write-down. Even all-electric Tesla mothballed its Model S and Model X vehicles. Stellantis said it would suffer a $26 billion charge due, in part, to “the cost of overestimating the pace of the energy transition.”
But automakers have not seen a surge in consumers buying traditional gas vehicles. Buyers instead are pivoting to the market’s surprising bright spot: hybrids.
Sales of hybrid vehicles have increased more than 80% from 2023 to 2026, to a pace of more than 2 million vehicles a year, according to Cox.
Hybrids — which use a mix of electric and gas power — made up a record high of 14.1% of new vehicle sales, nearly three times as much as EVs, in the first quarter this year.
The bulk of new cars and trucks sold still run on gas alone. But hybrids have more than doubled their market share over the past three years — taking gains from the shrinking share going to EVs and gas vehicles.
“Hybrids are definitely having their moment,” said Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox.
The success of hybrids has received less attention than the politicized downfall of EVs, which can seem to reduce car-buying options to either environmentally conscious EVs or gas-guzzling behemoths. The future vs. the past.
But the rapid rise of hybrids shows that American car buyers are open to electrified vehicles while hedging their bets. They want better fuel efficiency without sacrificing the things they love about their cars and trucks, according to analysts.
“I think the future is still electric,” Streaty said. “The timeline has just shifted.”
Car buyers want both more miles per gallon and familiarity, said Joseph Yoon, a consumer insights analyst at Edmunds, an automotive research platform. They want a vehicle they already know. And they can’t afford to pay too much more for it. The average new vehicle costs about $50,000.
Yoon said Edmunds ran a small survey of car shoppers just before the EV tax credit expired and found that one of the main reactions was people wanting an electrified version of their favorite vehicle. With price a priority, that often meant a hybrid.
“For a lot of people, hybrids add a layer of fuel savings without changing anything else in their life,” Yoon said. “I think that’s a heck of a value proposition.”
Today, some hybrid models outsell traditional gas ones. A majority of Toyota Highlanders sold earlier this year were hybrids — same with Hyundai Sonatas and Honda CRVs.
“It’s the stealth rise of hybrids,” Yoon said.
The United States’ EV struggles are an outlier. Worldwide, about 25% of vehicles sold last year were EVs, said the International Energy Agency. In China, EVs amounted to more than half of new cars. By contrast, in the U.S., EVs accounted for less than 10% of sales for the entire year, boosted by the tax credits.
So far, the spike in gas prices caused by the war in Iran hasn’t boosted U.S. EV sales. Consumers have been looking and researching EVs more, Yoon said, but that hasn’t translated into more sales.
“It’s hard for us to say what’s going on,” he said.
Electric vehicles tend to be more expensive than gas and hybrid ones. The tax rebates are gone. Interest rates are high.
“Buyers are more focused on value than trying to get into a new platform,” he said.
Automakers, once full of plans for EVs, have been forced to change directions.
Ford replaced its fully electric F-150 Lightning with a hybrid model.
The long-delayed plan to launch an all-electric Ram 1500 pickup is gone, replaced by the promise of a hybrid truck.
“What we are registering is a higher interest on hybrids. This is the power train that is fastest-growing in the market, hybrids,” Antonio Filosa, CEO of Stellantis and owner of Ram, said on an April earnings call.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra said the automaker was scaling back its EV production because it was “operating in a U.S. regulatory and policy environment that is increasingly aligned with customer demand.” But Barra said GM wasn’t giving up entirely on EVs.
“We know EV drivers don’t often go back” to internal combustion engines, Barra said.
The popularity of hybrids has been a win for Toyota’s original strategy.
The automaker’s entire fleet has been slowly shifting to hybrid-only. Its Sienna minivan went that route in the 2021 model year. The Land Cruiser went hybrid with its 2024 model. The Camry followed the next year. The biggest switch came with the 2026 model of the RAV-4 — America’s best-selling compact SUV.
It is available only as a hybrid. Sales have held up.
“The conundrum for the industry is there is interest in electric vehicles,” said Stephanie Brinley, associate director at S&P Global Mobility. “We’re just not quite there yet.”
