[title]
The jubilation is potent. It undulates in sync with the Afro-house, salsa, disco and R&B blasting from a stack of bright pink speakers. You feel it in your stomach, your throat and, of course, in your feet. You might be at Classon Playground in Williamsburg under the BQE, on the blacktop at Maria Hernandez Park in Bushwick, or at Herbert Von King’s amphitheater in Bed-Stuy, but the vibe is the same: absolutely immaculate.
This is Public Service—an outdoor daytime dance party that’s become a staple of Brooklyn summers over the past four years. Like many of the best things the borough has to offer during the warmer months, the roving event is free, open to everyone and lovingly curated by nightlife veterans with a passion for music and community (as well as the way those things intertwine). Public Service will hold their final party of the season on Sunday, September 14 at their “home turf” of Von King.
“Each one, each year, gets better and better,” says Public Service cofounder Cesar Toribio. “It’s just [promoted] on our Instagram, and then it’s word of mouth. Because it’s such a genuine, real thing, people come back and they’re like, I felt something so incredible that I have to come back and I gotta bring someone else.”
August’s Public Service reached a fever pitch, with throngs of dancers—a colorful assortment of toddlers in headphones, Bushwick baristas, neighborhood OGs and everyone in between—gathered at Von King from mid-afternoon until dusk. Some arrived early to help Karl Scholz set up his Karlala Sound system, others were drawn to the energy of the event as they passed by. The result was something like an epic block party; one made by community and for community, whether you’re already a part of it or not.
Public Service grew from pandemic-era street parties Toribio and DJ Mickey Perez organized outside Williamsburg taqueria La Superior. When police shut down their third event, the DJ duo decided to move into city parks. They’ve since hosted two dozen Public Services—including several outside their usual summer season, as well as events in Montreal, Detroit and Washington, D.C. The New York events are run entirely by Perez, Toribio and Scholz, with help from volunteers and close friends like photographer Mario Federico.
Those early parties were a powerful awakening for Perez and Toribio, both as people and professional DJs surveying the landscape post-lockdown. New Yorkers were “searching for things that are genuine and feel authentic, even if it’s not something they know,” Perez theorizes. Public Service “just feels fresh to them; it isn’t stale in any way.”
Part of keeping the party fresh is ensuring that the vinyl selection—and Perez and Toribio play records exclusively—is attuned to the crowd. While there are Public Service staples (the duo shared some of their party song staples at the bottom of this story), the party adapts to its location; you may hear more Fania-era salsa records at Maria Hernandez or more soulful house and funk mixes in Bed-Stuy. Public Service DJs’ real skill is their ability to weave a thread through seemingly disparate genres—how a merengue rhythm is related to dembow, which is connected to techno, which connects to industrial sounds like Chicago house or to cumbia—without losing the dancefloor.
Their message is connecting with New Yorkers. Toribio reflects on a rainy Public Service at Maria Hernandez two years ago, where a downpour didn’t stop dancers from vibing with Masters at Work’s “It’s Alright, I Feel It!”: “There was a big breakdown and when the drums came back in, I saw somebody jump so high they were just trying to jump outside of their skeleton. The extreme energy just bursting out of people with the rain, that’s something I’ll always remember.”
While Public Service always feels good, it’s not without its challenges. “Running a sound system is extremely expensive,” Scholz says, citing regular wear and tear, replacing stolen gear and the costs associated with setup and teardown. “This year alone, I’m at over $10,000 in damages and [lost] tech… there’s a real cost involved in showing up at this level of production.”
Public Service now takes donations at their events and started a GoFundMe page for Karlala Sound system repairs and other event costs. With enough funding, they hope to one day make a vinyl compilation of Public Service classics, a photo book with anecdotes from their regulars, and T-shirts. True to their community ethos, Toribio envisions creating some sort of virtual community board for people to connect outside of the event.
For all of its organic, feel-good catharsis, Public Service exists among a deep history of block parties—from contemporary events like Saint James Joy to the decades of neighborhood get-togethers that happen throughout the city every summer. “There’s a lot of shoulders we get to stand on that have already laid down the work for this kind of stuff,” Toribio says. Adds Scholz, “When we set up Public Service and other big block parties, it feels like you’re just activating something that’s here, under the surface, all the time.”
Public Service Essentials
Some records never leave DJs Mickey Perez and Toribio’s crates. Here are a few tracks that are always a hit at Public Service.
Seduction - “Groove Me” (dub mix)
Produced by house music power duo Clivilles & Cole, Mickey Perez found this Seduction record in Guadalajara, Mexico for $1. Drawn by the kid vocals describing “two Puerto Ricans, one Black Dominican sitting at a party” and then hearing the beat drop, Perez recalls thinking this is coming with me! Karl Scholz says it’s the track that sounds best on his soundsystem.
“On the spectrum of all the events I do, [Public Service is] on the higher fidelity side,” Scholz says.“There’s an infrasonic element to [this song]; when the beat hits it then, like eight bars later, it hits again, you can feel it.”
Elegua is the trickster Orisha who guards the crossroads and is the messenger of the gods. Where believers in the Yoruba and Afro-Carribean deity might pray before embarking on a journey, Perez decided to play this traditional song at the beginning of each Public Service.
“People would say a prayer to her before they embark on something,” he says. “[We play it] to basically be like, we’re in your hands. Whatever happens—if it rains, if the police shut it down early—we’re grateful either way for the opportunity.”
“Canto Del Caribe” (Jose Marquez Mix)
A “Mickey classic” that Perez has played out for years, this remix by L.A.-based DJ Jose Marquez focuses on the Afro-Colombian genre of bullerengue. “When we started doing Public Service, it was just like, how could I leave it out?” Perez says. “When it arrives at these claps, everyone [at Public Service] starts clapping. It’s just a genuine, like, beautiful moment that everyone is kind of locked in together.”
A fusion of all the things Toribio loves—Afro-Cuban percussionist Mongo Santamaria, jazz, drumming and dance—“Son Of Mongo” is essentially a “souped-up version” of Masters at Work’s “The Bounce” with live saxophone adding to the groove.
“It’s one of the best drum programming that has ever been done in house music,” Toribio says.
Toribio grew up and into music through the church, and his grandfather was a preacher. Today, he’s drawn to the gospel vocals and refrain on “Work It Out,” which offers hope when the bills are piling up. Toribio likes to tease in the vocals, pushing as hard as he can before the beat drops.
“When I let it go, it just has everyone two-stepping and clapping,” he says. “It’s always a final sending off, uplifting all the spirits, and we’re sending out all the bad ones and taking in all the good ones and we’re working it out.”
DJ OJI feat. Tracy Hamlin - “Cranes In The Sky”
Originally written by Solange and Raphael Saadiq and released in 2016, Toribio plays this 2021 remix toward the end of a Service. “[‘Cranes In The Sky’] opens up something within people,” he says. “This year, I saw this one cute little gay white boy crying to himself. I was like, wow, I gonna turn my head to not look at him or I’m gonna cry too.”