I completely agree with you.  I've been sad to see 3 neighbors of the Walnut Market move out in the past couple of years:  Peppi's, the police, and the real estate agency.  That has made the Market seem much more isolated from the rest of the shops on Bryant.  As a result, I think it has served to make the Market more vulnerable and an easier target since shop neighbors aren't visiting the Market as often and the business traffic has declined.

I visit the Market only occasionally but I've gotten to know Michael and his wife over the years.  They always greet you with a smile, ask how you're doing, wish you well, and so on.  Over the years I've happened to walk in and had the opportunity to meet their adult daughter (for whom they're immensely proud) and other relatives. 

I truly would love to see all of us show them our concern and our appreciation for how hard they work and for how they try to support our neighborhood.  I sincerely hope that this experience will not have the affect of encouraging them to leave the neighborhood.  So I agree that I think it's vital that we show them our concern and our support.

At the same time, I am angered and saddened that this happened.  I only wish we could find a way to have the police station re-open next to the market.  I'm remembering many years ago when the market used to be a 7-11.  They had a permanent off-duty police officer stationed in the store.  I always thought that was immensely sad to see.  Because of that, I rarely visited the store.  So when Michael and his wife took over the market, I was delighted to see so many positive changes in the area around their store.   PLEASE...let's find a way of preventing Bryant Street to reverting back to the way it was when the 7-11 was there!!!

Remember...let's all try to make an effort to drop off a card or something else at the store to wish Michael and his wife well.  That's what is MOST important in this whole situation.

- Missy H.

Murphy, Timothy M.D. wrote:
RE: [Highland Park] Walnut Market Owner Attacked

I went to leave some flowers on the door. There was a balloon, two cards and that was it.

I would like to see the community demonstrate the outrage we all feel about this, and to share with the owners our feelings of sadness and of hope.

Has anyone else wondered how to respond to this shooting? The market seemed like an obvious target - it was not highly trafficked (like other busier businesses) and it is just enough out of the way to feel isolated (prompting, I imagine, a greater sense of anonymity that would promote choosing it as a target).

Despite that, it makes me feel like the quality of our world has diminished greatly tonight. My children still walk there occasionally to buy goodies: going to the market alone marked a milestone for them in independence.

Tonight I feel sad, less safe, angry and frustrated. My need for safety has been threatened, and my desire for a vibrant and cohesive community has been challenged. Is there some way we can make this better? I would hope that we could show the owners how much we care for them. I would hope we could find a way to help find the perpetrator of the crime (perhaps contributing to a reward fund).

I hope others feel the same.

Tim Murphy


-----Original Message-----
From: Missy Harvey [mailto:harvey@andrew.cmu.edu]
Sent: Fri 11/30/2007 12:49 PM
To: Rudolph T. Maceyko
Cc: neighborhood@highlandpark.pgh.pa.us
Subject: [Highland Park] Walnut Market Owner Attacked

I just read this alarming news in the PostGazette about Michael of the
Walnut Market:

http://www.postgazette.com/pg/07334/838078-100.stm

- MH

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