Jamaica, Queens tries to rebrand with $100K marketing campaign as locals brace for change

New York Post

6 hours ago

A $100,000 marketing campaign is aiming to rebrand a stretch of Jamaica. Queens with a hip-sounding acronym ahead of a rezoning expected to transform the transit hub.
The new nickname 'DJQ' — for more than three dozen blocks along Jamaica Avenue — comes ahead of a rezoning that officials believe will pave the way for new residential units, shops and public space.
'Jamaica has always been a commercial hub, and now it's about bringing awareness and opening people's eyes up to the fact that this is a place that you can come and shop and eat and wander around,' said Whitney Barrat, president of Downtown Jamaica Partnership President Whitney Barrat, which is leading the rebranding effort.
'It's just much easier to start from a brand that's identifiable … and get people familiar with all the neighborhood has to offer,' Barrat told The Post.
DJQ — short for Downtown Jamaica, Queens — specifically describes the zone stretching from Sutphin Boulevard to 169th Street.
6 Jamaica, long seen as an outer borough transit hub, is attempting to rebrand itself as a New York City destination.
Stephen Yang
The $100,000 rebrand aims to 'reframe perceptions of Jamaica from pass-through to destination' by advocating for small businesses, boosting public safety and hosting family-friendly programming, according to the group.
6 Downtown Jamaica Partnership BID vice president Jahnavi Aluri (left) and president Whitney Barrat.
Stephen Yang
The city Planning Commission is set to vote next month on a massive Jamaica Area Rezoning Plan to add up to 12,000 new homes – 4,000 of them permanently affordable – and create an estimated 7,000 new jobs in hospitality, technology and light manufacturing.
'Beyond these zoning changes, the plan would include strategic investments to enhance infrastructure, transit access, open space, and more,' city documents read.
At the same time, the city plans to build a one-acre park dubbed Station Plaza outside the Sutphin Boulevard subway station and a $70 million investment in street improvements, both set to begin in 2026.
6 A section of buildings which will be turned into the three block-long Station Plaza.
Stephen Yang
The area has already been undergoing massive changes in recent years, Barrat said, with a 13% population boom between 2010 and 2020 — outpacing the citywide population increase twofold — and a spate of new luxury high-rise apartments began sprouting up since the pandemic.
Among the newest offerings are a barber shop, bakery and ice cream shop, alongside Raising Cane's, Shake Shack and Chipotle — but there's still an unfulfilled demand for late-night eateries and nightlife to inject life into the area beyond the bustling LIRR, AirTrain and subway stations.
'We want people to come here and shop, not just for the transportation hub,' said BID board member Sari Kulka, who hopes the rebrand will attract bookstores, pet stores, co-working spaces, restaurants and breweries in the future.
6 The area has already been undergoing massive changes in recent years, Barrat said, with a 13% population boom between 2010 and 2020.
Stephen Yang
Now, the group is requesting city funding for a handful of public safety 'ambassadors' to be the NYPD's eyes and ears on the corridor and keep tabs on quality-of-life concerns like fighting, drug use and illegal vending.
6 Rufus King Park in Jamaica, Queens.
Stephen Yang
The BID hopes the local-led initiative will help mitigate 'one-size-fits-all' solutions like the city's 2021 busway redesign, which gobbled up parking in the car-centric neighborhood and decimated business for some locals, like Rincon Salvadoreno owner Elena Barcenes.
'I would probably say 75% of my customers are gone now,' Barcenes said, noting longtime customers of her 40-year business disappeared due to the lack of parking and a surge in parking tickets issued.
6 'I would probably say 75% of my customers are gone now,' business owner Elena Barcenes said, attributing the drop to a DOT busway project that gobbled up Jamaica Avenue parking spaces.
Stephen Yang
Barcenes, who supports the rezoning project, hopes to expand her business with catering, as well as nightlife offerings with DJs as more young people move into the area.
The rezoning plan may also propose changes to the design of streets and enforcement of traffic regulations to prioritize cyclists, seniors and people with disabilities, per planning documents, as part of the initiative set to combat the 'big housing shortage' facing the neighborhood.
'It's a positive thing for the community, I think it would be a great option for low-income people,' said Bronx native Fabiola Cyriaque, 23, who has been living in a homeless shelter in Jamaica since March.
'I'm excited.'