Since its inception in 2014, under founding publisher Kevin Boyle, The Rockaway Times has been all about supporting the community. That torch was carried on by the McVeigh and Ferriola family since late December 2022. Now it’s in the good hands of a power couple with deep ties to the community, who want to continue to see Rockaway and its businesses thrive—Margaret Powers and Paul King.
With names like Powers and King, it was almost written in the cards that this husband and wife were des tined to be leaders, but always ruling with a simple shared interest… deep love for the community they’ve spent their lives in.
Margaret Powers is a lifelong Rockawayite. “I was born on Beach 129th Street. When I was three years old, I moved to Beach 130th Street, where I’ve lived most of my life, be sides a brief stint upstate. I still live in the house I grew up in,” she said. “I couldn’t bear to have anyone gut it.”
Paul King could almost claim lifelong status, with initial roots stretched not too far, in Marine Park. “I moved here in 1972, when I was 8. In 50 years, I’ve lived on pretty much every block from Beach 124th to Beach 131st and now back to Beach 130th, where it started,” he said.
Powers and King established their ties to the community early on, besides living in the 11694 zip code. Powers grew up next to St. Francis de Sales, where she attended elementary school. King attended what was then JHS 180, followed by Beach Channel High School. Both come from families that were active in the community. “My mom was very active in the church and also a very outspoken democrat. She was always fighting for what was right,” Powers shared. “My father coached CYO and was president of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association (BHPOA) and on Community Board 14 (CB14),” King said. “I used to be like, ‘How do you go to all of those meetings?’ Now I’m president of the BHPOA and on Community Board and coaching and going to all of those meetings.” Powers said. “We got that from our families.”
King’s father helped Margaret get a job as an assistant district attorney at the Kings County District Attorney’s office before she joined King’s consulting business, Orion, which he launched in 1993. For more than 30 years as president and founder, King, and Powers, for 20 years as chief operating officer of Orion, have spent decades in the business of making businesses better, which they hope to do both for The Rock away Times and the community’s small businesses. “We went from a teeny company that started above the Surf Shop on Beach 116th to having an impressive list of Fortune 50 and Fortune 500 clients but we really want to bring those skills to help the businesses here in order for Rockaway to thrive,” King said. “Our businesses have to do well. We can’t have a bunch of empty storefronts. That’s a community in decline. Through the paper, we think we can help.”
How did this opportunity come to be? “Dumb luck,” King said. “As I was closing my office next door, I was joking with Kevin Boyle that I need to figure out what I’m going to do when I grow up and he said, ‘Why don’t you buy The Rockaway Times? You and Margaret would be great for it.’”
King entertained the thought. After all, he has had some journalism experience. He’s been writing op-eds since the fourth grade, helped publish his school newspaper at JHS 180, was editor of his newspaper at Beach Channel, a sports editor at Hofstra and has continued to contribute to local newspapers over the years, covering CYO sports and Rockaway Little League, which he’s also heavily involved with, and some civic issues, with his knowledge from the BHPOA and CB14. But first, he had to consult with the boss.
“It didn’t sink in until I talked to Margaret about it but with our ties and passion for the community and business experience and the fact that I’ve been in journalism since P.S. 114, we felt like it was a good fit.” King said.
“I think what I bring to the table is more about creative thinking. I’m always thinking of different ways to improve businesses and make things better. It’s rooted in business process management, which is what Orion provides expertise in. But I pretty much generate ideas constantly, so we can use that for our businesses here and I have extensive experience in training and sales as well,” Powers said.
King said, “This is about doubling down on Rockaway. It’s a time where some people are wondering if things are going to change and questioning if they should leave, and we think this is a wonderful place that has a future, and working with the team at The Rockaway Times and adding our skills, I think we can help businesses continue to thrive so Rockaway stays this special place that it is.”
What makes it so special? To Powers, “I used to tell people I’m from Rockaway and it’s a beach town in New York City, but we’re a small town because growing up, you can look at a kid’s face and say, ‘You’re a McManus, you’re a Sullivan.’ You knew who people were and I think we’ve retained a lot of that. We have such a shared story together, having been through so much as a community.” King added, “It Is amazing
to live in a beach community in the world’s greatest metropolis. It’s a place where regular people can afford to live, not just millionaires, and it still has that small town atmosphere because Jamaica Bay gives us a buffer from the rest of the craziness. With that strong sense of community, you can see it in kids’ sports, in civics, even when it’s messy, and when someone is hurting or in need, the community is willing to step up and help out.”
Addressing King’s past runs for congress as a republican, and as active members of the Rockaway Republican Club, the couple says they have no intention of making The Rockaway Times a political podium. “The focus continues to be the community and that is not going to change. We’re not going to bring politics into this because even though I was a candidate, that’s not what this paper is about and it’s not why we’re getting involved. I’m an old-school journalist. We get so much advocacy at a national level and outlets trying to push a narrative, and that’s not what we believe journalists should do,” King said. Powers added, “When I was growing up, my mother was a staunch democrat, and my father was a republican and they loved each other and that’s the model I grew up with. They did bicker sometimes but when the chips were down, they had each other’s backs, and those differences didn’t matter. We love Rockaway and respect everybody holding their own beliefs. We want to see our neighborhood do well and our neighbors do well.”
Powers and King have jumped in head first and are ready to take on this new adventure. “We’re really excited. I’ve been up past midnight almost every day for weeks getting ready,” King said. “We are thrilled and excited,” Powers added. “We love this neighborhood and think this came together so perfectly so we can do this and keep our neighborhood strong and help preserve everything that makes Rockaway special.”
