"Partway through the performance, Bad Bunny wound his way through a crowd of dancers toward a set depicting a New York City street and took a shot offered by a beaming woman standing inside a bar. The set was a precise replica of Toñitas, the beloved Puerto Rican social club in Williamsburg. Above Bad Bunny's head, the bar's address, 244 Grand Street, was visible in reflective letters, just as it looks at the real bar."
"Toñitas is the last Puerto Rican social club in Brooklyn, a symbol of the Latino communities that have called Los Sures home for generations. Cay founded the bar as the members-only Caribbean Social Club in the 1970s, as immigration to New York City from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic peaked. A lot has changed since then: Williamsburg has gentrified rapidly, its Latino population has begun to shrink, and many locally owned businesses have shuttered - but Toñitas remains."
""Un shot de cañita en casa de Toñita y PR se siente cerquita," he says on the track, or "A shot of rum at Toñita's house and Puerto Rico feels so close.""
Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance included a replica of Toñitas, the Puerto Rican social club at 244 Grand Street in Williamsburg, and featured the bar's founder and owner, Maria Antonia Cay, serving him a shot. Toñitas began as the members-only Caribbean Social Club in the 1970s during peak immigration from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Williamsburg has since gentrified, Latino residents have declined, and many local businesses closed, yet Toñitas endures. Cay continues to cook and serve Puerto Rican food while patrons drink, play dominoes and pool, and speak Spanish. Bad Bunny previously celebrated album releases there and referenced the bar in his music.
Read at Brownstoner
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]