Somos 2025: Putting work first at the Puerto Rico conference

Bronx Assembly Member Karines Reyes, chair of the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force, is gearing up for the Somos conference next week in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Starting on Nov. 5, the day after the election, the conference will welcome a new New York City mayor. Reyes in a telephone interview with City & State wasn’t shy about who she thinks will be the mayor-elect, expecting that Zohran Mamdani will win and that he will attend the conference. She also promises the conference will be so focused on substance, attendees might have to skip the beach. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Last year, City & State interviewed you about the Somos conference starting with the question, “So it sounds like it’s going to be a pretty interesting conference.” I think we can start with the same this year, right?

Absolutely. Hurricane Melissa missed the island of Puerto Rico. Of course, some of the other islands in the Caribbean dealing with the aftermath of this past hurricane. But, you know, it always rains, and I did say that before. So people should prepare for that. Last year, we had the looming presidential election and the feeling was more somber as it was all starting to settle in: losing the White House. losing the House, losing the Senate. This year of equal importance, people are looking at what’s going to happen in the New York City mayoral race. And then there is the government shutdown – all of those things are happening and I think the overall feeling will be more hopeful than it was last year. We can possibly make history in this mayoral election in New York. There will be moments to celebrate during this conference, and I think that’s a marked difference from last year’s.

And we may see a Latino become the next speaker, right?

Yes. Absolutely. I know I think there are several people vying for the position. I firmly believe it should be a Latina. I think our community has lacked representation and a seat at the table – a meaningful seat at the table – not the ceremonial positions that get appointed and leadership can point to it and say, “Look we have a Latino here.” We need somebody to be the speaker of the City Council of New York, who is also going to be able to partner with this new mayoral administration to deliver for Latinos. Latinos are the largest minority in the city of New York. We are such a significant demographic group, and oftentimes that is not reflected in our leadership. So, I think it is time that the moment is now. We’ve had Latino leadership in the past, and I think we backtracked a little bit and started to lose that. So I am going to be using my platform to uplift the Latino candidates that are vying for this position because I think it is important to have that seat at the table.

I understand that the conference is very focused on its agenda, and working hard to make sure that it’s not just a party atmosphere at Somos.

People look forward to Puerto Rico. It’s definitely one of the draws of our conference, the fact that you get to be in a different setting, in a beautiful sunny place. No one wants to miss that. Since I became chair, I have made a very deliberate effort to ensure that our conference is not classified as a junket. We have really meaningful conversations, policy strategizing around all kinds of topics and priorities. We have 68 workshops this year. My goal is for our attendees to never have time to be on the beach. And I’m sure that many people won’t agree with that position and posture, but I really do think that our work is important. And just because we’re in such a beautiful place with sun and sand that that goes away. So we should do the work first and if there’s time, then there will be some leisure.

Sounds like you’re determined to have everyone stay focused on substance.

The key aspects of the conference are definitely the policy conversations taking place and the dealings. Because it happens right after the election, there are always musical chairs that happen when there are people who have won seats, and now there are empty seats, or there’s a new administration and everyone is speculating how it’s going to build out its team. This year, we have the looming speaker race. Those are important networking opportunities and networking scenarios that happen in the conference. And I think the climate, the environment, the change of scenery lend themselves to more organic forms of networking where people feel a little less constrained by the structure of Albany, the weather, the place.

You can’t say, “What happens in Somos, stays in Somos.”

It never stays at Somos. What happens at Somos always comes back to New York.

Do you expect the mayor-elect to attend?

I do.

And when you say the mayor-elect, do you mean Zohran Mamdani?

Absolutely.

Did you get a confirmation from him?

Yes, from his team. So far, yes. … We’re just ready.

What about Eric Adams?

Mayor Adams? I don’t foresee him coming. I don’t think he wants to be around all the people, maybe in his opinion, that turned their backs on him, or didn’t support him. But since I’ve been the chair of Somos, the mayor has not participated in the Puerto Rico Somos. He has come up to Albany, but he has not been in Puerto Rico. It’s a bit of a sore spot for me. I remember listening to the media, they asked him if he was coming to Somos and he was like, “I don’t have time to sit around and have piña coladas at the beach,” or something like that. It undermines the work that happens at our conference and the significance of what this conference means. We’re not just in Puerto Rico having piña coladas. We’re in Puerto Rico setting and strategizing a Latino agenda. And if you don’t care enough to come and show up for that, then that says more about how you value the Latino community than anything else you can say.