Tag: Jose Chema Soto

Jose “Chema” Soto, Founder of Rincon Criollo aka ‘Casa de Chema’ Passes Away

Out of the hundreds of “casitas” or little houses that dot community gardens across New York City, there is one that is known by folks all over—considered the oldest and largest one in NYC—and it is Rincon Criollo aka Casa de Chema named by locals for its founder, Jose “Chema” Soto who passed away Thursday at the age of 70.

When residents of the South Bronx were left to their own devices among rubble and ruin, Don Chema took it upon himself to clean up an abandoned lot on Brook Avenue and 158th Street 40 years ago back in 1975.