Meet Toñita: The Brooklyn Matriarch Behind Bad Bunny’s ‘Nueva Yol’
Toñita’s Caribbean Social Club, a Puerto Rican chinchorro in Brooklyn that for four decades has been a refuge for the diaspora, emerges as a symbol of resistance and pride alongside Bad Bunny.
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Champagne with mofongo. That’s what I served over a decade ago at one of my sister’s birthdays at the Caribbean Social Club in Brooklyn, also known as “Toñita’s,“ after the matriarch of one of the last social clubs in all of New York City.
With its chinchorro vibe, its worn-out pool table, domino tables, and a jukebox that plays FANIA and Bad Bunny alike, Toñita has spent over four decades bringing together diverse generations from varied backgrounds—Puerto Ricans first, then Latinos and their allies—under one roof.
Before Bad Bunny sang the line “a shot of cañita at Toñita’s place and PR feels so close,“ in his song “Nueva Yol” and seated her in the front row on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, María Antonia Cay, “Toñita,” was already known as the patron saint of Boricua culture in Brooklyn’s diaspora.
Her name had already appeared in documentaries, interviews, and in stories about celebrities like Madonna, Rauw Alejandro, and J Balvin, among many others who have stopped by.
But this recent connection with Bad Bunny isn’t about a big artist giving voice to a small establishment—it’s the meeting of two Puerto Rican icons of our time.
A Matriarch in Los Sures
Originally from Juncos, Puerto Rico, Toñita arrived in New York with the wave of new Puerto Rican immigrants who came from the island between the 1950s and 1960s.
During this Great Migration, many Puerto Ricans settled in the southern part of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which would eventually become known as Los Sures. For many years, Los Sures became a vibrant Puerto Rican community, a piece of Puerto Rico outside the island, where culture bloomed on every corner.
Toñita was only 15 years old when she arrived in the neighborhood. She spent 20 years working in a skirt factory, saving her chavitos to bring her family from the island. In 1986, she bought the building on Grand Street that would become the Caribbean Social Club, a decision that has allowed the space to survive decades of gentrification that have drastically changed the neighborhood.
In an area where few memories of Latino culture remain, Toñita stands firm.
“They’ve offered me up to 9 million dollars and I don’t plan on ever selling,” she said in an interview with Telemundo in June. “We’ll stay here as long as God wills it.“
A Home for Everyone
The club started as a meeting place for neighborhood baseball teams, but evolved to become a vital space for cultural exchange and celebration. From its beginnings, Toñita hasn’t just run a club—she’s created a home.
On Sundays and certain days, she cooks for whoever needs it, free of charge. And you just go and serve yourself a plate of arroz con habichuelas, grab a Medalla (that one you pay for) without questions, without conditions.
Her generosity is legendary, and her space has served as a gathering point for both established and emerging artists.
During the recent migration caused by Puerto Rico’s economic crisis, the club served as a refuge for a new generation of Boricuas who timidly knocked on its doors. Raquel from Buscabulla, who also collaborated with Bad Bunny on his track “Andrea“:
”I still remember the day in 2008 when I was on my way to a restaurant with Joel and I peeked into the Caribbean Social Club. I didn’t dare go in because it was full of ballplayers and seniors, and he told me ‘let’s go in.’ 🤣 The rest is history.”
Even back then, the Caribbean Social Club served as a cultural space that united generations and celebrated Boricua pride in a special way. Raquel is part of a lineage of artists that also includes other indie acts like Musaraña and even painters like Bobby Cruz, who found inspiration and support under Toñita’s roof.
Toñita and Bad Bunny: Two Wings of the Same Bird
There are echoes of everything Toñita represents in Bad Bunny’s work, particularly in his most recent album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos. Just like Toñita, Benito has created a space where people and surroundings have to adapt to him, not the other way around.
In his music, you can feel that unbreakable pride and spirit of resistance—that “I am who I am and I don’t care what anyone thinks“—that has run through Toñita’s veins for decades.
And now Bad Bunny honors this icon by presenting her to the world. With this, he’s not only putting Toñita on a global stage, but speaking directly to the audience that is central to both of them: Boricuas, Latinos, and their allies. As one fan shared on social media: “BB says ‘Toñita is in the house’ and I burst into tears.“
By seeing her and honoring her, Bad Bunny transmits a message to his community. He seems to say: “I hear you. I see you. And I’m going to elevate your voice as high and far as mine reaches.“ In that sense, we are all Toñita.
Did Toñita ever imagine all of this when she arrived at 15 years old in los nuyores? I’d like to think that, even if she didn’t know the shape it would take, she always knew she was una duraca and that something like this was possible.
Between Brooklyn and Puerto Rico, Suset Laboy has forged her path as a historian, writer, and co-founder of LalaboyPR, a creative consulting firm focused on Latino stories.
