Article on NYDIS assistance on Project Refuge and the Rebuilding of Barrio Playa – Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños 2017

Written by Josue Mendez (2017)
In a mission to aid Puerto Rico after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio sent 150 employees to the Island – one, in particular, being
Jonathan Soto, tasked with coordinating engagement between NYC’s City Hall and the San Juan municipality in emergency planning. With family in Aguada, a municipality on the
western coast of the Island, it did not take long for Jonathan to realize the majority of relief aid sent to Puerto Rico was concentrated in urban areas with little to none devoted to
towns like the one he knows so well. Rural towns were heavily impacted by the hurricane, including one Jonathan visited: Barrio Playa, located in the municipality of Añasco on the
west coast.
Barrio Playa is a seaside town, economically disadvantaged and physically located in a tsunami danger zone.

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