Dear Editor:
Hi neighbors, and congratulations to the new owners of The Rockaway Times who are already innovating in important ways. In particular, I’ve been noticing a new brand, “Rockaway Time,” popping up everywhere lately, as an app, in the paper, on posters around town, and on those electronic ads aboard the NYC Ferry. What a fresh, well-orchestrated launch.
It got me thinking, because in my professional world, this kind of lifestyle brand is one of the most powerful tools around. Brands become so much more meaningful when they stand for an idea, not just a product or a name. And that’s what “Rockaway Time” will easily become for folks who don’t know the peninsula and even for us.
Take Nike and Apple as examples. Neither one stayed just a manufacturer of sneakers or of computers. They grew into something bigger by speaking to a feeling: Nike’s “Just Do It!” spoke to the will to push past your limits, Apple’s “Think different,” to the confidence to be creative. People fell in love with what those brands stood for, not just what they sold. That’s lifestyle branding.
“Rockaway Time” has that same kind of warm potential. So, when The Rockaway Times uses this phrase, it’s kind of saying, in a friendly way, This is what Rockaway is all about.
And that’s a lovely, big thing to say about a place as special as ours. It would mean the most, I think, if it grew to genuinely reflect what Rockaway is; the rich fabric of life throughout the Rockaway peninsula, in every neighborhood, every background, every walk of life, every aspect of nature.
If we got there together, it could really mean something for our community too. It could help real estate developers get a better feel for what fits here – before they invest in designing plans that may not serve our wellbeing. And it might even give our local banks a warmer sense of what we hope for, so they might go beyond the standard, legislated programs like the Community Reinvestment Act, and actually co-invest with our community to support a year-round peninsula economy for our small businesses from Far Rockaway all the way to Breezy Point.
So, hats off to the new ownership for such a great, coordinated launch. You’ve opened a really nice door here. And maybe the fun next step is filling in what’s behind the phrase, together, as neighbors.
I’d love to see that happen with a truly representative peninsula-inclusive board and lots of friendly community input, whenever the time feels right. I really do admire the new ownership’s spirit in wanting to honor what we all love about our Rockaway home. And I’d be happy to pitch in whenever folks want to get together and talk about how “Rockaway Time” can come to represent the peninsula that it names.
Sincerely,
Elsie Maio
