As Puerto Rican recording star Bad Bunny headlined the first Super Bowl halftime show performed mainly in Spanish, the predominantly Latino crowd gathered at Bad Habits in Astoria danced, sang and, at times, wiped away tears.<\/p>\n
For many, the performance was more than entertainment. It was a moment of visibility on one of the biggest stages in American culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I cried my eyes out,\u201d said Priscila Huerta, an Astoria resident. \u201cI’m Latina, so I think a lot about representation and what that means, especially at this tumultuous time politically.\u201d<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Bad Bunny headlined the first Super Bowl halftime show performed mainly in Spanish
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Fans gathered at Bad Habits in Astoria, where a replica of the singer\u2019s \u201cLa Casita\u201d installation was on display
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Many attendees said the performance represented a powerful moment of Latino visibility and unity
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The bar\u2019s owner called the milestone long-overdue recognition for Puerto Rico and the broader Latino community<\/p>\n
Inside the bar, fans waved flags and belted out lyrics as the Grammy-winning artist delivered a set that celebrated Latin music and culture. Some said seeing Spanish-language music dominate the Super Bowl halftime stage \u2014 typically the most-watched broadcast of the year, drawing more than 100 million viewers annually \u2014 felt historic.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my gosh. It was incredible,\u201d said Ronald Downs, an Astoria resident who was born in Nicaragua. \u201cIt was great to see he brought out some artists. As a Latino myself, Nicaraguan born, it was amazing to see all of us in unity. He represented every Latino country, and it was incredible to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n
The decor at Bad Habits reflected the significance of the night. Just outside the bar, management reinstalled a full replica of the singer\u2019s \u201cLa Casita\u201d installation \u2014 or \u201clittle house\u201d \u2014 which debuted last year and drew fans from across the city. The display helped turn the Astoria venue into a mini pilgrimage site for supporters long before the Super Bowl spotlight.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe brought all the saz\u00f3n and all the coraz\u00f3n. He delivered,\u201d said Lauren Downs, an Astoria resident. \u201cI love him. I love everything he stands for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yazmin Arciniegas, who traveled from Woodhaven for the watch party, called the performance unforgettable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s so amazing and he is the best singer in the world, and I love,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For Alexander Roldan, owner of Bad Habits, the moment carried personal and cultural weight. Seeing a Puerto Rican artist headline the halftime show as a solo act marked what he called long-overdue recognition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means a lot. It means Puerto Rico finally getting recognized,\u201d Roldan said. \u201cIt means somebody that made it from almost nothing being able to show America that we can still do it, even in an environment like this that we are going through right now, we can still be successful. We still got a chance at getting that American dream!\u201d<\/p>\n
As the final notes echoed through the bar, fans embraced, snapped photos in front of \u201cLa Casita\u201d and lingered in the afterglow \u2014 proud to see their language, culture and stories take center stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Puerto Rican recording star Bad Bunny headlined the first Super Bowl halftime show performed mainly in Spanish,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127440,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2296,25,231,9,24,12,63,122,124,123,10387,27,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-127439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-app-human-interest","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-human-interest","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-city","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-queens","16":"tag-queens-headlines","17":"tag-queens-news","18":"tag-ron-lee","19":"tag-top-stories","20":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}