To me, the key concept is that this is, as you said, a nice bit of cultural diversity "without any of the dark sides associated with it."
If it were the Muslims (or anybody else, including my own people) setting up the eeuivalent of a sharia-compliant No-Go Zone, my stance would be implacable opposition. I'd scream bloody murder! But this is not that.
When I was a child there were, I think we called them, "Rogation Days" (and this is an old custom I wish they'd bring back). This was when the parish priest would walk the geographical boundaries of the parish --- down Sassafras Street to 6th, across 6th Street to Liberty, up Liberty Street to 11th, over 11th and back to the Church--- sprinkling Holy Water and praying for all who lived within the physical (but invisible) boundaries of the parochial borders.
Look, if you're a non-believer, the Holy Water evaporates almost instantly, like the sound of the priest's voice. If you don't like the looks of a priest in a cassock, avert your eyes, look away at the bomes, taco shops, playgrounds and bars he's -- from a distance --- making the Sign of the Cross over.
To the non-believer, it should mean less than children playing hopscotch. The children, after all, leave chalk marks on the sidewalk. The priest and his acolytes leave nothing but a memory of blessing.
Well, I’m all for Judeo-Christian customs and traditions. This is certainly a harmless help to religious Jews who want to get out of their house on the Sabbath. For those who bash it, they can go to hell and not in a handbasket.