Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented Bronx designer Edwin Reyes’s framed artwork “Bandera Viva” to María Antonia “Toñita” Cay at Toñita Fest on June 28, an annual street festival in Williamsburg that draws thousands to celebrate Cay and the Caribbean Social Club she has run for 52 years, according to Noticia NY.

The festival filled Grand Street between Driggs Ave. and Roebling St. with live music, dance performances, a Latin DJ, street soccer, merchandise, and cheap beers. Some attendees came carrying oversized cutouts of Toñita’s face.

Mamdani took the main stage and opened with “Yo soy Boricua” to crowd cheers. He called Cay “an icon of this city” and said she has every day helped build a sense of community and recognition for Nuyoricans across the five boroughs. He relayed Cay’s own words, saying she stays for her people as long as she can, not to make money or a fortune, but to keep a space where everyone can be together. He mentioned Puerto Rico’s ongoing water and energy crises and the recent earthquake in Venezuela that killed more than 1,450 people. He closed his remarks by leading chants of “¡Toñita! ¡Toñita! ¡Toñita!” and “Go New York, go New York, go!”