A Weekend With 7 Vendors Of San Juan, Illustrated
After Hurricane Maria, a skeleton crew of artisans and sellers keep showing up in the city. They're driven by force of habit, tradition and a sliver of hope that things will return to normal.
Before Hurricane Maria, Brian Gonzalez could sling 500 empanadillas, fried Puerto Rican empanadas, each day to tourists from cruise ships stopping at Old San Juan. On a recent day, he sold less than 50.
It's the story of many street vendors that depend on sightseers and visitors to San Juan's biggest attractions.
Before Hurricane Maria five weeks ago, there were dancers in the square, music in the street and hardly a parking space in sight. Power outages have since turned tourist hotspots like oceanfront Condado and Old San Juan into a dark and empty ghost town.
