It’s getting to be contagious: First South Harlem gets re-branded as SoHa, and now — well away from Manhattan, no less — Yonkers is getting into the act by promoting its southwestern area as SoYo.

If you’re going to pimp Yonkers as a desirable place to work/live/play, I guess it makes sense to stick to the part that’s as close as possible to NYC. Basically, the folks they’re looking to attract are the ones who’ll shuttle themselves from their cheaper-rent residences to the Metro North train station leading to the City on a constant basis, thereby spending the minimal amount of time possible in the Yo.

Again, makes sense. As does the concept of identifying Yonkers with the five boroughs, since in a lot of ways it’s practically the sixth borough. I know some Bronx neighborhoods (including Woodlawn, which might just be part of SoYo) straddle the borough-municipal border. Why not strengthen those ties mindshare-wise?

I’m not sure how long SoYo, aka the Southwest Yonkers Planning Association, has been around. They don’t appear to have a web presence, which is not a good sign. Can’t depend on garbage-can wraps and subway placard ads alone to spread the word, especially since, well, we’re still talking about… Yonkers.