Pol pushes to open P.R. help office

The office dedicated to assisting Puerto Ricans living in New York City should be reopened, says Rep. Ritchie Torres, and called on Puerto Rico’s Gov. Pedro Pierluisi to help make it happen on Tuesday.

“Before closing, this office not only provided valuable services to Puerto Ricans who were born on the island, but it also helped build relationships between the Puerto Rican diaspora in NYC and current residents of Puerto Rico,” wrote Torres (D-N.Y.). “Its absence has been profoundly noted.”

The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration’s (PRFAA) New York City office was closed with little explanation in 2017, leaving members of New York’s Puerto Rican community to seek assistance from offices in Washington or Orlando.

The administration has assisted the thousands of Puerto Ricans who came to New York in the wake of Hurricanes Maria and Irma, disasters that made it harder to access documents like birth certificates and school records, Torres noted.

PRFAA also plays a role in helping “Puerto Ricans throughout the diaspora stay connected to the island during this time of reconstruction and economic development,” the freshman congressman wrote.

“I would appreciate any information and documents your administration could provide on the costs of maintaining the original NYC office and the costs of reopening,” Torres wrote Pierluisi, who became governor in January of this year.

The governor said in a statement he welcomed Torres’s letter.

“We look forward to continuing the work necessary to help make this a reality,” he said.