On eve of games, mayor says San Juan ‘open for business’

Carmen Yulin Cruz has attended only a handful of Major League Baseball games in her life, and she won’t be adding to that total this week.

Soon, she hopes, that will change.

Cruz, San Juan’s mayor, isn’t attending the two-game series in her city between the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins — because she’s receiving an award on Wednesday from the National Press Club in recognition of her work trying to get help to the island after Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico last year.

Her hopes for these games are simple: Cruz wants it known that San Juan “is open for business,” and she wants to see big league games in her city again soon.

“I think it’s important that we are thankful for those who didn’t neglect us and understand that this is a very long road to recovery,” Cruz said in a telephone interview. “Continued help is necessary. That’s number one. Number two, there is something to be said that assuring that sports and cultural events are seen as a tool for financial and social development. It shows we’re capable of putting together world-class level of activity and our facilities are up to it.”

Cruz pleaded loudly for help in the days after Maria hit Puerto Rico with 155 mph winds, causing more than an estimated US$100 billion in damage, making it the third-costliest hurricane in U.S. history.

The official death toll from the storm in Puerto Rico is 65; hundreds more may be added to that tally once a government review is completed.