Author: tourist_yp6g7u

Even in January, the warmth of the Caribbean steams off 244 Grand St. in Williamsburg. Inside, the colors are as vibrant as Puerto Rico itself, and the music as inviting as Toñita’s smile as she greets each one of her visitors at the Caribbean Social Club. An array of Puerto Rican flags, accomplishments, fan-made art, baseball teams, and family portraits adorn the walls as an archive of Puerto Rican resilience from beginning to end.

Maria Antonia Cay, also known as Toñita, was born in Puerto Rico in May of 1940. She came to New York when she was 15, and her first job was at a skirt factory. Last June, she celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Social Club’s opening. 

Toñita owns the building that houses the club and has lived there for 60 years. The Club was a members-only space for a local baseball team when it was first conceived in 1974. Toñita explained she decided to open it to the public, “The moment the team had to leave the league because the park permits became too expensive, parking permits, the bats, the baseballs… There were no funds to continue, so we stayed as a Social Club.”

The edifice remains a constant in the fast-growing and gentrifying neighborhood decades after that. Ms. Cay said in Spanish, “Not much has changed in Williamsburg, they took out the factories and put in buildings.” But reiterated that for her building, “NO SE VENDE,” asserting her building was not up for sale.

Toñita is known to many high-profile celebrities such as Maluma, Madonna, and Bad Bunny, as well as politicians like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) and Rep. Nydia Velasques (NY). They have all attended the Social Club, which Toñita describes as “very emotional moments for her, and those who have been around her.” However, Toñita’s testament is better represented by her long-time regulars.

Raymond Fernández photos

“I come here by myself, everyone knows me… and Toñita is spectacular.” Said Norys, who has frequented Toñita’s for the last 30 years. Octavio Moran, 79, has been with Toñita since the beginning. He attends the bar every Thursday to Sunday. “Toñita helps, makes food, people drink and eat here, they buy three-dollar beers.”

Bad Bunny’s new album, “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” dropped on Jan. 5, and claimed Billboard’s No. 1 in its first week of being released. The artist’s sixth studio album is an ode to Puerto Rico, a protest against colonialism, and a cry to preserve culture on the island and beyond. Much like Toñita has been doing for the past 50 years in Williamsburg: fostering community, throwing block parties, and owning real estate in a rapidly changing part of the city as a Brown woman. 

The song “NUEVAYoL,” explicitly references partying at Toñita’s House in New York City. Since then, the album has drawn large crowds to music streaming platforms and Toñita’s Social Club’s doors,in spite of New York’s frigid weather.

When asked what it is like being at Toñita’s Social Club, Cyntthia Ortiz, a first-time visitor from Puerto Rico said, “We came to visit, and we feel as if we were in Puerto Rico, right now, right here.” Another family originally from the island expressed their first impressions of the bar: “It pretty much looks like the bars from Puerto Rico. We are talking: San Juan, Rio Piedras, San Dulce.” 

Undoubtedly, at Toñita’s, Puerto Rican heritage is celebrated and preserved. Even for those who are not Puerto Rican, the bar is an oasis that shelters Latinos and their idiosyncrasy. Toñita’s crowd is incredibly multicultural and showcases a safe space regardless of age, national origin, and sexual identity. The Social Club is a window into Latin America and a mirror of New York’s rich diversity. 

Andreina, a 27-year-old Venezuelan immigrant who lives in New York, visited the bar for the first time after “a good friend recommended it.” Her girlfriend, Tatiana, 28, of Puerto Rican descent walked, danced, and played joyfully at the bar wearing her ‘I (heart) My Hot Venezuelan Girlfriend’ shirt. Tatianna added, “We were very out and openly affectionate and felt nothing but welcome, which I know is always a risk for folks like us but the people and the atmosphere were so great.”

The jukebox allows the customers to play their own music — from reggaeton to salsa, and merengue to dembow interchangeably. Dominoes matches, pool, dancing, and Toñita’s homemade arroz con habichuelas are all part of the ambiance at New York’s last remaining Puerto Rican Social Club.

Toñita’s has been a thriving hotspot of Latinx culture in New York City for decades. Toñita’s presence and iconic status in Williamsburg prove the vitality of protecting spaces where Brown folks feel safe, create community, and cherish their culture. She stated, “You are born with it” when discussing kindness as the driving force behind the Social Club she has run for 50 years. Gladly, for Toñita, “It is a privilege to help people.”

The post Toñita’s Caribbean Social Club: ‘It is a privilege to help’ appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.

* This article was originally published here