ANTONIO TIZAPA

Founder of Running for Ayotzinapa 43

Brooklyn, NY

Iguala, Guerrero, México

Running for Ayotzinapa 43 is an NYC-based international community of amateur athletes founded by Antonio Tizapa, father of Jorge Antonio Tizapa Legideño — one of the 43 students from the Ayotzinapa Rural Teachers’ College who were forcibly disappeared in Iguala, México, on September 26, 2014.

We run to demand truth and justice for the 43, to honor the thousands of disappeared in Mexico and to raise global awareness of human rights violations

¿Para usted que sería un gran día en Nueva York?

Lo primero, lo primero, que tenga salud. O sea, ese sería un buen inicio de un buen día. Tener salud, tener trabajo. Yo sé que todos tenemos diferentes ideas, diferentes pensamientos, diferentes metas. Pero yo creo que si le preguntas a los demás, lo primero es la salud y que tu familia esté bien. El trabajo lo tienes o lo buscas, pero si no tienes salud no puedes trabajar, verdad? Entonces yo podría decir, este día está bien porque estoy bien. Tengo trabajo. Tengo algo que comer. La familia está bien entre comillas, pero. Sin. Sin hablarle a mi hijo. Para mí eso sería un buen día. Si, que me dijera: Papá estoy bien. Para mí, ese sería un buen día estando aquí en Nueva York.

Photographed & Interviewed by Francely Flores

JAYNICE DEL ROSARIO

Founding Director, Feminist Idea Lab | Senior Program Officer, Girls First Fund | Philanthropist & Organizer

Parkchester, Bronx, NY

Dominican Republic

A global feminist who believes a more beautiful, vibrant, joyful and equitable world is possible, and that part of the solution is giving marginalized people, including young women and girls, the opportunity to help create it.

As a woman, a Black person, and an immigrant, I think about how often my people get stuck in survival mode and never get the opportunity to be creative - to make the world. And that is why I founded the Feminist Idea Lab, to give girls and young women from all walks of life the opportunity to create the world, to bring their visions for a more beautiful vibrant existence to life

As Senior Program Officer at Girls First Fund, she launched the Changemakers program — a participatory grantmaking model where girls and young women from multiple countries (including Haiti, Morocco, and Pakistan) awarded nearly $1 million in grants to grassroots organizations fighting child marriage. Working across seven languages, including Dominican Sign Language, she pioneered an approach rooted in language justice and co-creation.

She is also the founder of the Feminist Idea Lab, which provides seed funding and mentorship to girl-led initiatives. Her 2024 cohort launched five projects spanning a digital magazine for Black immigrant voices, SRHR education in Tanzania, ancestral land reclamation in Mexico, and a fashion show for autism awareness.

Jaynice helped lay the groundwork for Michelle Obama's Let Girls Learn initiative while serving in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia (2013–2015), bringing that same strategic vision to every role since — from grassroots organizing to global philanthropy.

She builds a world where self-determination is not aspirational but expected and where young women are the architects of prosperity and peace.

What does a great day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

Waking up early in the Bronx to go to a photo shoot in Queens, then driving to Harlem to have brunch and dance the day away with my cousins, and ending the night in the Heights at my cousins apartment talking about gender, race, and politics, over coronas. I had this exact day recently and it is the kind of day that nourishes both my mind and my soul.

LA GUADALUPANA BAKERY

Jorge & Amy Rojas

3rd generation owners of La Guadalupana Bakery

Bushwick, NY

Piaxtla, Puebla, Mexico (Jorge) / Rio Piedra & Dorado, Puerto Rico (Amy)

La familia más panadera que hay - todos primos, hermanos, todos tienen su panadería. El que comenzó todo lo de la panadería en Nueva York fue mi tío. Fue el primer mexicano que abrió su primera panadería en Nueva York — JORGE

How did you meet each other?

We grew up en el mismo bloque donde está la panadería, we grew up together. So we were best friends. Yo con su hermana. Él se llevaba bien con mis hermanos, se llevan bien. así nos conocimos — AMY

What do you miss the most about the old New York?

I mean, us playing outside na? Yeah, like we playing handball… because I mean the generation changed so the kids are not outside playing anymore and then la gente se mudaron – mucha gente se fueron del bloque y entraron nueva gente. Where the pump is, there used to be a wall there…luego llegaron vecinos y nos pusieron un árbol ahí mero para que no jugaramos. They used to play football, the block was always alive, no matter what time it was, siempre habia gente afuera — AMY

Yo creo que nos imaginamos que nuestros hijos tuvieran lo mismo que nosotros. La mayoría de la gente que vivía en el bloque era de nuestro pueblo, todos nos conocíamos, la gente que vivía ahí todos nos conocíamos, era una familia muy grande. Poco a poquito se fueron.. — JORGE

What advice would you give someone that is trying to open up a business now? 

Don’t get discouraged, there’s gonna be ups and downs, but to keep going. There's a lot of sacrifices you have to do but not to get discouraged, just keep going. Que le eche ganas, que no se raje! — AMY

What does a great day Ñiu Yor look like for you? 

Any summer day but… el apagón? The whole black was outside, they were drinking. Block party, everybody was outside. Los carros tenían música, tu pusiste tu carro con música, he had like a system in his car, era el DJ. [Musica] de todo, cumbias, reggaeton [aun] no estaba, no estaba pegando — AMY

Photographed & Interviewed by Alejandro Olivas-Castillo

LIBERTY GIRLS NYC

Front to back

Melody Olivera (she/they) | Bronx | Puerto Rico

Ariel Velez (she/they) | Lower Eastside | Puerto Rico

Karen Sepulveda (she/they) | Bronx | Dominican Republic

Founders of Liberty Girls NYC

Liberty Girls NYC is a collective of queer native Afro-Latina rollerskaters from NYC—the only group of its kind. We initially met through the roller skating community, attending many of the same community-led events, and bonded over our shared passions & values. We officially formed the group in 2023, after traveling together to both national and international skate parties. In addition to being a rollerskating crew, our mission is to leave a positive impact on our community. We aspire to uplift marginalized people through movement, creativity, and activism, ensuring that rollerskating remains a force for change on and off the rink.

Before New York City gained its first roller arts center in Bushwick - Xanadu - we noticed a huge lack in safe spaces for queer roller skaters across NYC/NJ. We decided to host our very first Queer Skate Night in February of 2023 in collaboration with a local queer organization. Since then, we have continued to host various events that serve our underrepresented communities.

Roller skating is more than a sport—it fosters self-expression, resilience, and empowerment while creating safe spaces for all identities. As a queer, Latina-led group, we provide much-needed representation in a male-dominated space, embracing diverse styles, backgrounds, and passions. In the future, we plan to expand the crew to help support our mission.

What does a great day in Ñiu Yor look like to you? 

A great day in New York City is waking up to a beautiful, crisp weather day, the sun is shining on my face, having the bus and train pull up right when you get there, hearing music blasting on the streets from cars, the hydrant is open, and kids are having fun in the street. There’s a faint sound of an ice cream truck in the distance, seeing my Puerto Rican flag hanging proudly in apartment windows next to a beautifully painted mural on the side of the building. I’m meeting up with my friends to skate outside, where we forget all about our worries for a few hours as we roll together in harmony — Melody

A fabulous New York City summertime day would be to work out in the morning, go to Prospect Park to tan, listen to jazz music, paint, and read. Then I would either make a delicious, drool-worthy homemade vegan meal for my loved ones or eat at one of my favorite vegan restaurants with them. Then go skating, of course!   — Ariel

A great day in New York City looks like driving down to Brighton Beach or Coney Island on a summer day, with my scruffy rescue Chihuahua mix, Ginger, and my friends. Lying out in the sun and with the occasional dip into the cold water. Rollerskating along the boardwalk down to Nathan‘s to get a corn dog, which they don’t sell anymore, sadly. Then skating down to the pier to watch the sunset while listening to my favorite R&B playlist. — Karen

Photographed & Interviewed by Monica Patten

SAMANTHA "CAKE" ROBLES & BRITT ROBLES

Left to right

Samantha “Cake” Robles (she/her) | Coney Island, Brooklyn | Puerto Rico

Britt Robles (she/her) | P.G. County Maryland | African American & ​​Haliwa-Saponi

Entrepreneurs, Founders of Girls Only Tattoo Studio and Collective

Flatbush

The studio is special. … Even if we don't know you, it’s meant to feel like home. We really want our space to feel, I keep using that word, safe, but to me, it's really home. I want our parties to feel like home, you know? I want everything that we do to feel like you've known us forever, and you could have just met us five minutes ago, because genuinely that's how we operate. It’s no frills, it’s special.

What does A Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

A lot of New Yorkers, I feel, like living this nostalgia. You always feel like things were better when you were younger, and I feel like a great day in New York for me is like a beach day in Coney Island. A lot of people outside, a lot of like sounds coming from the neighborhood. I was outside every day, all day till like the sun went down, you know? I went to the beach every weekend like clockwork, living across the street. It was very simple things. They didn’t cost nothing. I used to have so much fun! I used to come home, and I would be too lazy to go to the sink to get a drink of water, so I would go to the bathroom because it was right by the door and just drink out the bathroom sink and then run back outside, or I would drink from the sprinklers that were on 24/7… Beach, park, sounds, Mister Softee, riding my bike, wildin’, no expenses, enjoying the city for what the city is and what it offers you. — Cake

Mine is similar. Cake made me fall in love with Coney, and some of my best memories are of us going to Coney Island. I love an amusement park. Being able to say “I want a funnel cake,” you know, just random, and then pull up? Those were our best date days, just us chilling. I also follow DJs and I love that about New York so much, so a really good day, to me, looks like a ton of frolicking to then go and find a DJ at night and party. Music is a really big thing for me here in New York. Day to night, you know, with my boo during the day and then at night, I'm gone, you know, partying, you know, like doing something crazy, listening to crazy DJs. So that's my good time. —Britt

Photographed & Interviewed by Shaira Chaer

DISCOLOCAS

Linda Artola & Loly Bonilla (left to right)

Mixed Media Artist & Vinyl collector and selectah 

Brooklyn, NY

Nicaragua & Colombia

Discolocas was born from the desire to create a safe and responsible space where women who love music—whether DJs, selectors, record collectors, or simply passionate about sound—can have a new, fun and enriching experience. In the music world in general, spaces for women are limited, so it's important for us to create and maintain a space to share knowledge, build community and celebrate women in music. The experience is special both for those behind the decks and for the audience, as we've seen that the energy created when the music is in the hands of women is truly unique. It's very important for us to contribute through our work and effort to ensuring these spaces exist within the nyc community.

What does A Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

My perfect day en NY es que esté a 80 degrees, dar una vuelta por el parque y hacer picnic, para luego ir a un concierto o block party con los amiguis… un día de buena música y baile al aire libre con buena compañía! — Linda

Para mi un dia perfecto, un dia de concierto en Verano, es salir de la casa por un café, caminar por mi barrio Flatbush para llegar al Prospect Park y disfrutar de caminar por el parque en mi way al show gratuito que hacen en verano. Terminar el dia disfrutando de música con los friends sin haber salido de mi barrio. La oportunidad que New York te ofrece de disfrutar todo un dia con solo caminar. — Loly

Photographed & Interviewed by Itzel Alejandra Martínez

TORMENTA

Multi-disciplinary artist

Harlem, NY

South Texas / México

A queer fronteriza from South Texas, is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Harlem. Informed by their experience growing up on the US-Mexico border, Tormenta’s artistic practice ranges from visual art, performance, installation and curated sound mixes highlighting the rich, cross- cultural expressions that have emerged from centuries of migration, struggle, and resistance. Through their work, Tormenta navigates the psycho-geographic connections between memory, Spirit, and the Land to reclaim our ancestral relations and connection the occupied territories of Turtle Island. Tormenta finds inspiration communing by bodies of water and organizing with artists around the city.

A place in NYC where you go find peace?

I do not find peace in NY lmaooo!

What does A Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

A raging protest on a hot summer day and ends with a night-long party hanging out with 8ball community.

MARIA CORTES

Caretaker

Bronx, NY

México

¿Cuál es tu parte favorita de Nueva York mamá?

La 42 a donde hay tantas tales de publicación a donde hay tanto color luces y vida y claro mucha gente caminando los colores me encantan las luces. Con todo el movimiento sin parar de tanta gente de tantos países

Photographed & Interviewd by Cesar Florencio

ESTRELLA NORTEÑA

Singer / Seamstress / Community Organizer

Brooklyn, NY

Michoacán, México

Un consejo para la gente?

Bueno, pues realmente mi consejo que les doy es de que si vienen con un propósito, luchen para conseguirlo. Porque muchas personas se quedan a medio camino, muchos se quedan en el intento, pero creo que no hay peor lucha que la que no se hace. Entonces mi consejo es luchar por sus sueños hasta lograrlos. Y el día que lo logren y salgan victoriosos, pues que le den gracias a Dios - Y si tú eres bendecido, pues también reparte la bendición, no te quedes con ella. porque más adelante hay gente que lo necesita.

Que es lo que mas le gusta de Nueva York?

Es la oportunidad que nos dan, ¿no? siento que este país está lleno de oportunidades que lamentablemente poca gente lo ve o poca gente lo aprovecha. Entonces yo eso es lo que veo y lo que me gusta de este país que a pesar de ser quien soy, tengo muchas oportunidades aquí y no las dejo pasar porque pues son buenas.

Que es un gran dia en Ñiu Yor para usted?

Bueno, para mí un gran día, te lo puedo resumir como levantarme y ver a mis hijos con salud. Y de ahí pues los proyectos que tenga ese día que se lleven a cabo. Eso para mí es muy grande.

Photographed & Interviewed by Alejandro Olivas-Castillo

KAREN ANDREA PÉREZ

Designer, Curator & Community Organizer | Co-Founder of Manhatitlan Community Organization

Long Island City, Queens

Puebla & Tlaxcala, México

A memory you would like to share?

I think one of my most important core memories has to be the second year we were able to have Dia de los Muertos under the Sunnyside Arch. We were able to do so much more, string up papel picado on lamposts, build an ofrenda and have speakers all day play music my dad had curated…Something about how the people moved around the space, the sound, the air was just perfect and it was a wave of gratitude, pride and bewilderment that this was real. My dad felt that at the exact same time as I did, it was surreal. We just looked at each other because we knew we had experienced the same thing. It was tinged with nostalgia and love for my uncle Oscar who had passed away because of COVID that first year. This was all for him, because of him, because I needed a way to pay him the respect he didn’t get because of the state of the world. If the world wasn’t going to know his name, if he was to remain a figure in the toll of deaths, I had to dance about it. He was our earliest and strongest supporter, attending presentations, running fundraisers, taking videos and sending them back to family in Mexico, he was proud and he was vocal about it. 

What does A Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

A great day is finding ducks in scenic places, sitting with them and reading a book under a blue sky with the kinds of clouds that look like the extra large pink and white Mexican Marshmallows, followed by a walk to any museum or mansion long ago relinquished to a state agency or private donor. A  great day is when it’s almost six pm and I know dance practice starts soon and the trains all ran without delays.

Photographed & Interviewed by Monica Patten

OSCAR DIAZ (she/they)

Creative Director, Organizer

Crown Heights, Brooklyn

Tijuana, Mexico & San Diego, California 

I work a lot with trans communities and my friends Rojo Hennessy and Sophia Lorena in Mexico City were talking about fascism in the United States and how communities here are really shocked to see it happen here, how there is this lineage of queer and trans resistance in the 1970s and 80s, and how there's an erasure of queer and trans lineages of resistance in the Global South, particularly in Abya Yala. Why is that? Because there were US-backed dictatorships in many of the places in which queer and trans life was also thriving and also resisting and also encountering a lot of the international plights like AIDS and war…. but you don't necessarily hear about the different collectives or resistant movements. Latinidad, in myth-making, erases a lot of the Global South and its history and the ways that it has been impacted by the U.S. I think that there's a very poignant motive to paint Latinidad in this positive light here and to associate it with a more positive image for first generation immigrants and for this American Dream, but that does not erase the generations of of physical, emotional, spiritual trauma that a lot of us carrying and in very distinct, different ways from wherever our lands are. There's a lineage that I relate to that connects a lot of dots for me, and a lot of the concepts that I explore through my artwork are centered around this element of ‘contra natura,’ which is against nature. And that happens across different spheres of who is able to be defined as human, right? Specifically within the realm of trans and queer communities, I relate a lot to a lot of the identities – and this is part of this investigation that I'm doing, but like across Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico – trans and queer identities that were criminalized in the 1400s, 1500s, 1600s. And there's not only juridical records of, like, just secular society criminalizing it, but also an ecclesiastical one, which is like the, you know, the church… I feel a part of that lineage, these different dissidences that have continued to resist into existence in these type of ways. The ways in which trans and queer people are criminalized and ostracized in society is not necessarily anything new, but the way that it plays out in Latinidad is very particular to that aspect of colonialism and to the learned ways of what is natural, what is right, and what is just. I'm in no position to argue with a white man about, you know, transness or what is human, but I will gladly accept the term of contra natura, because I know that I'm above and beyond any limited definition of humanity that you're able to prescribe to me.

What does A Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for?

I think that there's very particular moments in New York that make a perfect day. And a large part of the throughline of all those experiences that come to mind is the sun. When the sun is on my skin, I’m a happy girl. And that can be at the park, whether it's Prospect or even just watching the sunset, literally at Sunset Park with some tacos. But I think primarily, some wet skin at Riis (Beach) surrounded by other faggots and other trans folks, being in the ocean, being in touch with the ocean in that way in New York is a very unique feeling. There is a sense of euphoria on the sand, and then there is this sense of calmness in the water, which is a clash of, like, human emotion and pushing the body to physical extremes. It's beautiful to be tugged in that way and to push your mind to those emotional limits, these euphoric elements: you get a little thrashing, but also, maybe sometimes a little romance, a little kiss on the beach. A little flirtation. A little blushing in the cheeks… Riis is a very sacred space. I have a lot of special memories at Riis with my mother Cecilia, my chosen family, with lovers. I think a perfect day for me is definitely over 80 degrees, below 90 preferably, at Riis.

ANDY DOMINGUEZ

Professional Boxer

Harlem, NY

México

What does A Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

To me it looks like culture, struggle, unity, and dreams all moving at the same time. It’s the early grind, the late night hustle, different languages on one block, kids playing while grown folks chase goals. It’s immigrants building legacies, artists creating from nothing, fighters fighting for more. It’s loud, it’s raw, it’s just beautiful, it's everybody chasing something bigger than themselves.

Photographed & Interviewed by Cesar Florencio

NICOLE MOTTA

Founder, Fresh Mercado & Cafecito Initiative Creative Director

Brooklyn, NY

Peru

I've been keeping sketchbooks since 2009, and it's a place where I allow myself to be my messiest. The books carry all my ideas, notes, references, thoughts, and sketches. At NYU, I always carried my sketchbook on the subway and sketched folks on the train. It's where I allow myself to be authentic to my expressions and can see myself lay out ideas that have actually formed into exhibitions, projects, and larger goals in my life. It's also a wonderful timepiece. Crushes, breakups, heartache, yearning, frustrations, laughter, joy, and questions about who I am are all there, in a way that shows highs and lows, milestones, and big and small moments. The rain, overuse, and spills are all reflected in each book, becoming part of it in ways that remind me of the sensory moments that created them, and they tell a larger story about my life in New York City.

Fresh Mercado, my visual creative platform, was created back in 2017. I still have the sketches from when I first started brainstorming the name, and you can trace the idea forming over the pages of that early sketchbook. Then, in newer sketchbooks, there are sketches of how to mount an exhibition through Fresh Mercado. Sin Poder No Hay Paraíso at ICP was incepted and drawn into a sketchbook, and then brought to life with 12 New York native photographers. As an art director who works a lot with photographers and visual artists, it's a reminder that even creative leaders have honest, raw moments. I think everyone should carry a pen and paper with them at all times. Start with something non-precious to allow yourself to be messy in it. As a person who is always doing and creating, this is where it starts, and you can see a physical manifestation of my process. I find that re-inspiring as I look back to when an idea first started to seed, to seeing it in its place today. It grounds me to remember that everything starts small, and that it all started with me and the experiences around me.

What does A Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

A great day in NYC is spent with people I love. It's usually the unplanned adventures that start without agendas or timelines, and always involve local eats. As a Queens-born, now living in Brooklyn, my favorite memories growing up in the city are moments spent at the park until it gets cold, or going for breakfast and then walking around with friends, stopping in between, and seeing where the night takes us. As I got older and adulting filled my schedule, I realized how much I missed that unstructured time. I’m a very structured person, so there’s something about not having a plan in the city that opens everything up and opens you up to everything. You meet people along the wa,y and the memories build upwards like our buildings. I love quality time. If I'm alone, I'll do the same thing and usually start off going to museums, galleries or to places where I can sketch.

Photographed & Interviewed by Monica Patten

Mark Saldana (he/she)

Artist & Teacher

East New York

Puebla & México City 

I'm teaching classes to six to 50-year-olds and just being in Queens, in the neighborhood where I grew up, teaching in Cumbia class where I was exposed to it so much. Where I used to work as a street food vendor, where I was running down the streets and like, you know, also running away from my parents and being on those blocks for a long time, figuring out my life at such a young age… I get to look back at that, and I'm like, “Wow, I'm here teaching cumbia.” Allowing people to reconnect with their roots and also reclaim who they are and what they want to be, it hits different. This is what I always wanted to do. I always wanted to give back to my block and to my area, but through dance and through art. And I never knew how to, but it happened outta nowhere… Cumbia really did change my life in the best way possible. And it's my favorite way to connect. It’s my favorite way to communicate.

What does A Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

I love New York! New York is my favorite. There's so much character, personality… a great day in New York, for me, would be a community potluck, a community art show. Just being out there with each other and celebrating and sharing what else we can do to provide more free community programming – art community programming – for everybody. Community everything. I just want everyone to feel involved and seen and loved.

ROSA MARQUEZ-FADER

East Harlem, NY

Guayaquil Ecuador

If you could share something with a new New Yorker, what would it be?

There will be days where you hate this city.  There will be days where you can't imagine ever living anywhere else.

What does a Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

From the start to the end of your day.  Bagels and coffee from Bergen bagels, a walk in Prospect Park and just walk aimlessly

BRANDON ESPINOSA

Founder of The Salsa Project

Bronx, NY

Puerto Rico & Cuba

The Salsa Project is a movement rooted in getting more young people involved in Salsa music. The goal of this project is to protect, preserve, and ensure that Salsa does not die amongst the younger generations to come. "The Salsa Project" takes on a multi-disciplinary approach, which covers a docu-series, community engagement, events, and merchandise. The culmination of these four elements will help create a platform for all to engage, learn, and partake in our mission to keep the culture alive.

Do you have a favorite corner of the city? Why?

One of my favorite corners of New York City is at Wave Hill in The Bronx, NY. The fact that such a beautiful and peaceful garden and green-space exists amongst all of the chaos and hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle always brings some sort of calm. It is a place I often go to to reflect, meditate, and bask in the beauty of its surroundings. It is a hidden gem where I have created many memories both personally and with my daughters.

What does A Great Day in Ñiu Yor look like for you?

Definitely by a body of water! Even though New York doesn’t have the most pristine bodies of water, we would still be by a body of water with family and friends. Playing games, especially a few competitive rounds of dominoes. And of course, listening to music - Reggaeton, Plena, and of course my beloved Timba, paying homage to my Cuban roots - and obviously, la mejor Salsa del mundo, la Salsa de Puerto Rico. That’s what a great day in New York looks like to me - don’t forget about the good eats and beverages.

Photographed & Interviewed by Carolina Jiménez