There are not many places in New York City where you can feel the heat of Puerto Rico. But at the Caribbean Social Club in Brooklyn, Puerto Ricans have gathered for decades to get a sense of the island, enriched by a serving of arroz con gandules and a shot of cañita, served by none other than Toñita.
Toñita, whose full name is Maria Antonia Cay, is a reminder of a long-gone immigrant-rich Williamsburg, a matriarchal figure to all who cross her threshold and a comfort to those who are far from home. And on Sunday night, she was briefly the star of the halftime show at Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif., as the guest of her friend Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — the Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny.
One of the songs he performed was “NuevaYol,” a phonetic mix of musical genres that celebrates neighborhoods in New York City with Puerto Rican and Dominican roots — and that includes a shout-out to Ms. Cay. At that moment in the song on Sunday, Bad Bunny stepped toward a window in a replica of the Caribbean Social Club’s storefront that had been built on the field. There, Ms. Cay herself, small in stature, but unmistakable with her loose blond curls, was waiting to serve him a small red plastic cup and her singular brand of maternal warmth.
That’s what she does at her social club, which is one of the last of its kind in New York City. The club, in a modest building on Grand Street that Ms. Cay owns, has drawn celebrities in recent years, but remains a home base for generations of Puerto Ricans and other Latinos seeking community and connection to their heritage, whether they grew up in New York or elsewhere. Among the city’s many clubs and restaurants that cater to a global citizenry, patrons describe being drawn to the calorsito — or warmth — that the place offers, and they fiercely defend it and its owner. She normally tends bar in the back, distributing $3 beers from her knowing hands, every finger adorned with sparkling baubles.
In January 2025, days after Bad Bunny released “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” which won a Grammy for album of the year, he visited the club and partied with Ms. Cay and her patrons.
Earlier this year, in an acknowledgment of her influence, Mayor Zohran Mamdani wrote to Ms. Cay to ask her to join his symbolic inaugural committee.
“For more than 40 years, you have maintained this place as a home for the Puerto Rican community in Williamsburg,” the letter read in Spanish. It added: “During all these years, you have taken care of and represented Puerto Rican life in New York — through music, food, dialogue and community.”
If Bad Bunny’s aim was to portray life in New York as a Puerto Rican during his performance of “NuevaYol,” which samples a 1970s salsa hit by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, Ms. Cay was an essential component. And while she seemed to be enjoying her moment on the national stage — sharing the halftime show with Lady Gaga, Karol G and Cardi B; smiling in a photograph requested by Ricky Martin — she later acknowledged that she was far from home.
“I’m happier than you all are that you were watching me, because I was missing you all,” Ms. Cay, wearing a royal blue suit and green eye shadow, said in Spanish in an Instagram video addressed to her supporters (some of whom had gathered at the club for a Super Bowl watch party). “I missed being with you all in the club or together in your thoughts — together in any way.”
She addressed Bad Bunny directly in a separate video.
“Thank you, Benito, for the invite,” she said. “We had a good time. Thank God we saw you and were able to spend time with you. God bless you and keep triumphing until the end.”
Sandra E. Garcia is a Times reporter covering style and culture.
The post Bad Bunny Brought Toñita, a Brooklyn Icon, to the Super Bowl appeared first on New York Times.
