Office that aids Puerto Ricans moves closer to where they live

The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration just got more convenient to the community it serves.

Local Puerto Ricans with questions about housing or voting in the United States had to trek to a tony Back Bay high-rise to reach their community's regional office.

But now, that office has moved to the South End in the heart of Boston's Puerto Rican community.

The northern New England regional office of the administration now calls a first-floor office at 719 Tremont St. home.

''It gives us a presence in one of the historic communities where Puerto Ricans first came to Boston 50 years ago," said José Massó, regional director of the administration. ''As nice as our offices were, they didn't service the purpose of the work we like to do, which is to be accessible to the community and be stakeholders of the community and make it much more comfortable for our stakeholders to walk in."

The 1,100-square-foot office and its three-member staff act as a liaison for Puerto Ricans living in New England who have active ties to the island commonwealth. They come for issues ranging from welfare and travel documents to voting and housing assistance.

The office also promotes the Puerto Rican community in the region, estimated at 216,000, by organizing local cultural events such as photo and art exhibits and the annual Puerto Rican Festival.

The new digs sit a block from the South End branch of the public library and two blocks from the Center for Latino Arts as well as Villa Victoria, the housing development where hundreds of Puerto Ricans settled in the late 1960s.

JOHNNY DIAZ