Toñita for adidas Originals x BadBo. Brooklyn, 2026.
Adorned in her handmade rings and radiating an effortless regality, Maria Antonia Cay—known affectionately as Toñita to all whose lives she has touched—is a tapestry of devotion. Matriarch and entrepreneur. Grandmother and godmother, she remains an enduring pillar of community and a sanctuary to everyone who crosses the threshold of the treasure that is Caribbean Social Club. On a luminous autumn afternoon, I had the honor of sitting with Toñita to trace the threads of her journey: making home from Juncos to Los Sures, holding steady to belonging amidst the tides of a shifting neighborhood, and embracing her role as a single, vibrant grain of sand within the boundless sea of humanity that makes this life so rich.
For generations, Puerto Rican culture has traveled far beyond the island, carried by the people who preserve it, share it, and find new ways to express it. From Toñita’s decades-long commitment to creating home for her community to Bad Bunny’s continued celebration of Puerto Rican identity on a global stage, both reflect the power of culture to bring people together. With adidas Originals and BadBo, that spirit lives on through a shared belief that culture, self-expression, and belonging are for todes.
Originally from Juncos, Puerto Rico, the hometown that she still holds so dear, Toñita arrived to New York City at 15-years-old, one of the nearly 470,000 Puerto Ricans who moved to the States––and primarily New York––as a result of severe economic pressures on the island, U.S. industrial labor demands, and new transportation technology that resulted in the Puerto Rican Great Migration. Like many women of her generation, she began working in the garment industry. Later in 1974, Toñita would open the doors to Caribbean Social Club, the last-standing and longest-running Latine social club in the Los Sures.
Toñita for adidas Originals x BadBo. Brooklyn, 2026.
Nestled near the Williamsburg Bridge, what began as a hangout for local Puerto Rican and Dominican baseball teams evolved into a vital cultural artery for the Caribbean and Latine diasporas navigating life in the in-between. Deeply rooted in the tradition of social clubs as mutual aid networks and homes away from home, Caribbean Social Club—affectionately known as Toñitas—remains equal parts sala and sacred space. It is a living haven where dominoes clatter and pool balls echo, bread is broken, memories are woven across languages, and intergenerational bonds are tenderly nurtured.
“People have met here, and fallen in love. It’s a place of connection.” No matter which crossroad of life you find yourself at, the club remains a breeding ground for connection. In a neighborhood and a city transforming at a relentless pace—where neighbors face the constant threat of erasure—Toñita, the bar, and the community plant their roots ever deeper into the very bedrock of Los Sures. Crating memory, standing unabashedly in community with one another, and remaining defiant.
Toñita for adidas Originals x BadBo. Brooklyn, 2026.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, or your background. We’re all united. We come together as family.” To step through the doors of the Caribbean Social Club is to cross an almost holy threshold. Its walls hold the memories of the people, stories, and spirit that have built—and continuously breathe life into—the soul of Nueva Yol. A place where everyone gives what they can, bound by the understanding that we all need one another, and that this home belongs to everyone. For Toñita, the heart behind it all remains beautifully simple: “Because I love it. I feel good. I don’t like to go out much, but there, I enjoy myself a lot.”
By cooking for the community the recipes passed down from her matriarchs and continuously offering a sanctuary of respite, Toñita stands as a glowing testament to the power of women who keep the pulse of our people alive. She is the living embodiment of our elders—cultural forebears who carry memory, safeguard tradition, and preserve our shared heritage. As boleros hum in the background, she pauses to offer a warm tribute: “Congratulations to Bad Bunny, who continues pushing forward.” Closing our conversation, Toñita reflects that she is “only one grain of sand in a sea of many people, helping anyone I can, no matter who they are.”
Toñita for adidas Originals x BadBo. Brooklyn, 2026.