Cristopher Quiñones, his wife Charline Márquez, their children – Krysariel, 14 months, and Krisliany, 5 – and his mother Rosa arrived at the home of his father Raúl Quiñones (in the Yankees’ hat). (Photo by Mariela Lombard via El Diario)
Cristopher Quiñones, the father of a 5-year-old and a 14-month-old, described how a ray of hope appeared in his heart when he set foot on New York soil last Wednesday after living through the hell of Hurricane María.
Quiñones, 29, is one of hundreds of survivors who have arrived in the city in the last few weeks to start a new life after losing everything they had on the island. As he held his son in his arms, he remembered the torment of trying to find food and water for his family.
“You had to walk until your feet hurt to see if you could find a piece of bread and some milk. The children went hungry, they were cold, they were very scared. All that destruction, fallen trees, destroyed roads…,” said Cristopher, who went to the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center in Manhattan on Thursday morning to seek assistance. “María took everything except our hope. My family is here in New York, on its feet.”
The city’s Emergency Management (formerly the Office of Emergency Management, OEM) opened a center of operations at the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center, on 106th Street and Lexington Avenue, last week to respond to the massive numbers of survivors arriving from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Cristopher said that leaving Puerto Rico was another odyssey. His father Raúl Quiñones, who lives in the Bronx, was only able to find plane tickets for them almost one month after María made landfall on the island on Sept. 20.
The family spent a number of days in their destroyed home in the municipality of Juncos, without access to drinking water and other basic services.
“A mango tree fell on our house and the roof was ruined. The cement basketball court near my house ended up in the middle of the road. Right now, there are piles of cars that the water dragged through the streets,” said Rosa Basora, Cristopher’s mother. “I was so relieved when I arrived in New York.”
At the Julia de Burgos Cultural Center, the family received not only counseling from the city’s agencies, but also emergency aid in the form of clothing, shoes and supplies for their baby.
“We arrived in New York last night empty-handed, with only the clothes on our backs,” said Cristopher.
Cristopher’s sister was scheduled to land in the Big Apple on Thursday night with her 8-year-old son.
“My two children and my grandchildren will stay with me in my house while they find a permanent home and jobs. They are healthy and safe, thank God, and that is all that matters,” said Raúl Quiñones.
Education and a place to sleep
Yokarina Duarte, deputy director for intergovernmental affairs at Emergency Management, explained that 11 city agencies and a dozen civilian organizations are offering resources and services to the displaced families, including the Department of Education (DOE), the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), the Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC) and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA).
The East Harlem center served 75 families on its first day. On average, it is helping 65 people per day.
“We have assisted families from the Virgin Islands and Florida, but the largest percentage comes from Puerto Rico (…) The most requested service is education. Parents are asking where and how to enroll their children. There is also great demand for the services of the social security office, as many people lost their documents,” added Duarte.
Duarte explained that most newcomers are staying with relatives, but some of them do need emergency housing.
Marina Ramírez, 80, arrived from Puerto Rico last week. (Photo by Mariela Lombard via El Diario)
Marina Ramírez, 80, is one of those desperately looking for a place to sleep. She said her house on the island suffered great damage and that she sought shelter in her daughter’s home in Manhattan. However, she was not welcomed when she arrived here last week, she added.
“I have nowhere to sleep tonight. I have not even eaten breakfast. Social security helps me with $500 per month. It is not enough to rent a room. I am desperate,” said Marina. “They have helped me here in the center. At least I felt a little comfort,” said the senior.
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said that she goes to the center every day to make sure that the families are receiving the resources they need.
“We are receiving a lot of assistance from the community, people who want to contribute, who want to volunteer (…) We are seeing small businesses who want to offer jobs to displaced people,” said Mark-Viverito. “We are here to welcome them, talking to families who burst into tears. It’s a trauma. We realize that the life they had on the island will never be the same, and that’s really difficult for me too.”
Mark-Viverito said that “the federal government has turned its back on Puerto Rico,” but that New York is offering help and solidarity.
“We have limitations because we need the federal government’s help,” she added. “We need housing subsidies, we need all kinds of support.”
Solidarity from small businesses
Business owners in El Barrio, a neighborhood with a long Puerto Rican tradition, have joined the city’s efforts to assist María survivors. One of them is Jorge Ayala, owner of La Fonda Boricua, a restaurant he opened more than 20 years ago.
The venue partners with Mark-Viverito’s office to provide hot food to recently-arrived families.
Owner of La Fonda Boricua, Jorge Ayala. (Photo by Mariela Lombard via El Diario)
“In my restaurant we don’t serve survivors in paper dishes. We attend to them with dignity, we give them a service that will make them feel welcome and supported. They must know that we are their Boricua brothers in New York, and we stand shoulder to shoulder with them,” said Ayala.
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