“We had the beach all to ourselves,” said Mike Reinhardt, a co-owner of Locals Surf School, about Arverne, just a few years ago. “We knew it was only a matter of time that people would wake up and realize it’s easier to get to this beach by subway than any other beach in Rockaway.”(The A train to Far Rockaway runs directly to Beach 67th Street in Arverne, unlike the Rockaway Beach stops, which require a transfer at Broad Channel.)

Several longtime business owners in Arverne welcome the renewed interest in their neighborhood. “We’ve been a food desert for so long,” said Ms. Russell, who has been making 150 pizzas a week and selling them out of her home since 2014. She calls her business Last Dragon Pizza, and like Goody’s, it also provides takeout for Rockaway Brewing customers during the off-season.

“Making pizza restored my faith in people, because Rockaway is very territorial,” said Ms. Russell. “For a long time, if you lived in Rockaway Beach, you didn’t come down to Arverne — my customers would be like, ‘Where is that?’”

Emmanuel Loncke, 34, who runs Smoothie Haven on Beach Channel Drive next door to his father’s church, Arverne Pilgrim Church, feels similarly to Ms. Russell. “Growing up, people almost forgot we were here,” he said. “But now we’re seeing a lot of growth, commercial property is almost already gone, and I think we have the grounds to produce a small but mighty town.”