Puerto Rico Governor's Resignation Celebrated In NYC

NEW YORK — The Big Apple is glad to see Ricky go. Officials in the capital of the Puerto Rican diaspora hailed terrtorial Gov. Ricardo Rosselló's resignation as a victory for the massive protests that overtook the island.

"This is the beginning," former City Council speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, a San Juan-born Democrat, told CNN Thursday morning. "It’s about a new chapter for Puerto Rico and it’s about people saying, you know what, we have to reform and change the way government has worked or the way government functions."

Rosselló announced late Wednesday that he would step down Aug. 2 after nearly two weeks of vigorous, sustained protests backed by celebrities such as the musicians Ricky Martin and Bad Bunny.

The demonstrations were reportedly sparked by a leak of private messages in which Rosselló denigrated women, LGBT people and victims of Hurricane Maria. They also came amid arrests in a corruption scandal involving top officials on the island, according to the Associated Press.

Officials in New York City — home to the largest Puerto Rican population of any city in the world — said Rosselló's resignation recognized the will of the people and can lead the island down a new path.

City Councilman Fernando Cabrera, a Bronx Democrat of Puerto Rican descent, said the governor's "cruel words" and misuse of public money had cost him his credibility and his "ability to govern.

"Despite the ongoing turmoil, this could me a watershed moment in Puerto Rico's history," U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez, a Brooklyn Democrat who was born and raised on the island, said in a statement. "Going forward, the residents of the Island — of all political parties and persuasions — must come together to build up their own institutions, increase transparency and professionalize their civil service."

Puerto Rico still has other issues to address. The territory has $70 billion in debt and roughly 30,000 homes still have tarp roofs nearly two years after Hurricane Maria killed thousands of people and wrought mass devastation, according to the AP.

Mark-Viverito indicated that some people on the island also want to get rid of the Financial Oversight and Management Board, an unelected eight-member panel created by U.S. law to oversee the island's finances.

That's a call endorsed by city Comptroller Scott Stringer, who said he was raised by his Puerto Rican stepfather.

"Now that Governor Rosselló has resigned, the Financial Oversight and Management Board should go out the door with him," Stringer, a Democrat, said in a statement. "It’s time for a clean break from the past and for Puerto Rico to turn the page to a new chapter."