Just four months after María Antonia "Toñita" Cay became one of the most talked-about faces of the Super Bowl halftime show alongside Bad Bunny, New York City threw a celebration worthy of the woman many Puerto Ricans consider the soul of Williamsburg.
Thousands of people gathered Sunday for the third annual Toñita Fest, a block party honoring the 85-year-old founder of Brooklyn's legendary Caribbean Social Club as it celebrated its 52nd anniversary. The annual festival has evolved into one of the city's signature Puerto Rican cultural events, bringing together music, food, art, and generations of New Yorkers whose stories intersect at the tiny social club Toñita has refused to abandon despite decades of gentrification.