U.S. Citizens by Birth, City Residents by Choice, Puerto Ricans Find Themselves a Strictly Legal but Alienated Minority Here, Struggling for a Sense of Community. They Are . . . : ONE OF L.A.’S BEST KEPT SECRETS

FOR PUERTO RICANS, LIFE IN LOS ANGELES CAN be especially lonely.

Despite the city’s huge Latino population, it is impossible to find a Puerto Rican community organization. There are no Puerto Rican barrios or baseball teams. And as best as can be determined, there are no Puerto Rican restaurants.

Conversations in Spanish are filled with slang unfamiliar to “puertorriquenos,” also known as “boricuas.” Festivals feature mariachis far more often than salsa. Bank tellers hesitate to cash checks from Puerto Rico, where the currency is the U.S. dollar. And grocery stores with Latino food rarely carry Puerto Rican products.

To top it off, many local residents, including Latinos, are unaware that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens at birth. That may cause a special problem considering the sentiment surrounding Proposition 187, the initiative to restrict services for illegal immigrants in California.

“It will hurt everybody who is not white,” said Jorge Pineiro, 61, a longtime activist statewide who is treasurer of the San Jose-based Western Region Puerto Rican Council. “There are many Puerto Ricans who are brown or black or speak with an accent. I’m a citizen.”

To Pineiro and others, the debate over immigration reform is only the latest example of how the Puerto Rican experience in Los Angeles and other parts of the state differs from that of all other Latino groups.

One basic problem, activists say, is that the Puerto Rican community in Los Angeles is small and dispersed compared to the region’s massive Mexican and Central American communities. Many Puerto Ricans are either too preoccupied professionally, too busy with family responsibilities or struggling too much to organize as a community.

But the situation in Los Angeles is considered shameful by those who point out that Puerto Ricans have a history in California that dates back to at least the early 1900s. Active Puerto Rican advocacy groups exist in other communities such as San Diego or San Francisco, but not Los Angeles.

“There’s no agency to help a Puerto Rican who arrives (in Los Angeles) from Hawaii or San Juan or Chicago,” Pineiro said. “There should be a center to at least provide referrals.”

In Los Angeles County, the 1990 U.S. Census counted more than 40,000 Puerto Ricans, with nearly 14,500 living in the city itself. Small pockets of Puerto Ricans were counted in surrounding municipalities such as South Gate, where there were about 1,000, Huntington Park, where there were more than 500, and Bell Gardens, where there were about 120.

Activists say that if one figures in the hundreds of Puerto Ricans the census probably missed, the need for Puerto Rican unity is even more evident. Already clear is that Puerto Ricans in Los Angeles exist at all economic levels as entertainers, professionals, laborers and the unemployed, they are spread about in various neighborhoods, and relatively few know each other.

Carlos Vega, 43, of Echo Park, said he was unaware of any Puerto Ricans in the area besides a few relatives. That’s the way it has been since he came to Los Angeles from New York about 15 years ago.

“There aren’t that many,” said Vega, who was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, but was raised mainly in New York. “If there are I don’t know where they usually go or hang out.”

Vega, who is unemployed, said he keeps busy by working odd jobs, preparing for job opportunities such as being a truck driver, and by volunteering at a local youth program where his girlfriend works.

Overall, Puerto Rican households seem to be doing about as well as the area’s Mexican American households at making ends meet.

In the city, the census showed, the median household income for Puerto Ricans was about $23,800, compared to about $24,200 for Mexican Americans and about $31,000 for all residents. In the county, the median household income for Puerto Ricans was about $29,600, compared to about $28,000 for Mexican Americans and about $35,000 overall.

Still, the feeling of isolation hits home in different ways. Some Puerto Ricans miss the lively politics and cultural events found on the island or in the Northeast, where Puerto Ricans are the dominant Latino group in cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Hartford, Conn.

Still others get cravings for traditional foods like “ bacalaitos “ (cod fritters) or “ alcapurrias “ (ground plantain or yucca filled with meat and then fried). Even the name for beans is different: Puerto Ricans call them “ habichuelas ,” while most Latinos in Los Angeles know them as “frijoles.”

It is the kind of isolation, several local Puerto Ricans said, that tugs at one’s insides from time to time but normally would not cause someone to leave a good job or the California sunshine.

“It’s a little sad,” said Ivette Rodriguez, 28, who came to Los Angeles less than two years ago from New York and is a field manager promoting the film “I Like It Like That” for Columbia Pictures. “Whenever I meet somebody who’s Puerto Rican it’s a treat for me.”

Carmen Rosario, who was born in Cidra, Puerto Rico, and now lives in South Gate, said the Puerto Ricans she knows are the few who work with her at Puerto Rico Tourism Co. near Universal City. Outside the office, being around members of other Latino groups speaking Spanish can be odd, she said.

“I feel lonely. It’s not the same,” said Rosario, 33, an administrative assistant. “We try to talk to each other and even that is different. I get really happy when I see a car with a Puerto Rican flag on it.”

Rosario said she came to the Los Angeles area about two years ago with her fiance, Raffaele Russo, also 33, and the couple married in February.

So far, Rosario said, she has had her share of annoying experiences involving people who do not know anything about Puerto Rico.

“They look at me and they don’t know where I came from,” she said, smiling. “They think I have a green card. It’s very difficult. I go, ‘OK, here I go again. Explanation time.’ ”

Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island about the size of Connecticut, became a U.S. territory in 1898. Congress made Puerto Ricans citizens of the United States in 1917 and the current commonwealth status was established in 1952. Puerto Ricans on the island, which has about 3.6 million residents, elect their own governor and legislature but cannot vote in presidential elections. There are about 3 million Puerto Ricans living on the mainland who are eligible for all the rights or benefits of any U.S. citizen.

Rosario realizes that some people who question her citizenship don’t mean to be offensive. “It’s because they think anyone from outside the United States (mainland) is an alien,” she said. “They want to know how you got in here. How you got into the United States.”

Pineiro, who moved to San Francisco from Puerto Rico in 1953, is happy to tell anyone about how Puerto Ricans began arriving in California.

In the early 1900s, West Coast companies recruited Puerto Ricans to work as laborers in Hawaii to help farm sugar cane and grow pineapples. Some Puerto Ricans made it to Hawaii and stayed, some made it but returned to California and others made it as far as California and stayed because of factory jobs and other work available in the region.

Although census figures show about 126,500 Puerto Ricans living throughout California, activists say there are perhaps thousands more residents of Puerto Rican heritage living in all parts of the state. Puerto Ricans are multiracial--brown, black or white.

Census figures also show that about 7.7 million Latinos live in California. Of those, the overwhelming majority--more than 6.1 million--are of Mexican descent. In Los Angeles County, there are more than 2.5 million residents of Mexican descent.

While Puerto Ricans are undoubtedly outnumbered, some of the community’s activists believe a significant undercount occurred in the 1990 census for at least a few reasons. One is that many Puerto Ricans in the state are third or fourth generation, or have married members of other ethnic groups, and no longer identify themselves as Puerto Ricans on official documents. And there are probably those who do not identify themselves as Puerto Ricans because of an “inferiority complex” stemming from their relatively small numbers in any one community, activists said.

None of those reasons applies to David Vargas, 19, who grew up in Los Angeles and is a sophomore at Occidental College in Eagle Rock. Vargas, whose relatives came to California in the 1950s via New York City, feels strong ties to his Puerto Rican roots and plans to work as a lawyer on the island.

“Usually people stereotype you as being Mexican out here in California,” said Vargas, who is majoring in political science and Spanish. “They don’t see nationality. All they see is color. They see brown and they think there’s no other Latinos in this country.”

Adaliz Elvira, who was born in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, and came to Los Angeles 11 years ago, said one of her most disturbing experiences when she was starting out here was getting checks from the island cashed at local banks.

“They thought it was foreign currency. It was horrible,” said Elvira, 33, former regional sales director at the University City tourism company. “I became angry. I used to fight and fight. I started crying in the bank. They should know that we use U.S. dollars.”

Pineiro, an inspector for Lockheed Missile and Space Co. who plans to retire in January after 33 years with the company, sees the need for a Puerto Rican group in Los Angeles. More Puerto Ricans are likely to come West from the East Coast looking for a better life, he said.

“They are here and they’re still coming,” he said.

Pineiro said one way to attract attention from decision makers who can help generate greater clout for the community would be to recruit professionals and high-profile Puerto Ricans who live in the area, like entertainer Rita Moreno, to make public declarations.

“These are the people who are recognized and respected and will not be turned away,” he said. “Along with other professional people, they should be able to put together a professional Puerto Rican organization and be like the godfathers of the community.”

But even some Puerto Rican celebrities find it tough to get any respect.

When legendary golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez this month was named grand marshal of the 1995 Tournament of Roses, many area residents were scratching their heads wondering who he was and asking whether Arnold Palmer was available. This even though Rodriguez, a native of Puerto Rico, for years has entertained on golf courses worldwide and worked for children’s hospitals and orphanages.

Some activists say such ignorance actually discourages some local Puerto Ricans from being public about their ethnicity. Others say members of the Puerto Rican community must overcome the slights by organizing effectively and commanding respect.

Antonio A. Sanchez, 39, a native of Aibonito, Puerto Rico, who has lived in Los Angeles for 12 years and works as a researcher, said Puerto Ricans in Los Angeles seem to be less outspoken because they are more secure. Puerto Ricans are the only Latino group in the nation whose entry into the United States is automatic--no passport, visa or refugee/exile status required.

Sanchez, who came to the area to study at UCLA and look for job opportunities, said that in general, Puerto Ricans must endure a “second-class status” on the mainland. There is no doubt that many local residents assume Puerto Ricans must be of Mexican descent, he said.

“People don’t even know where Puerto Rico is,” he said, adding that during a recent job interview he was asked how well he knew Tijuana. “I said, ‘Well, I’m Puerto Rican.’ I don’t know if it’s ignorance or what. I don’t get offended. I admire the Mexicans.”

Sanchez was among several people who remembered Puerto Rican organizations in Los Angeles that have come and gone over the years. A few Puerto Rican restaurants survived briefly in the city as well, but Cuban eateries are where many “ boricuas “ turn to these days, they said.

For some, maintaining other cultural ties to Puerto Rico amounts to being regulars when salsa is played at such popular Downtown dance spots as the Shark Club on Grand Avenue. Some senior citizens keep busy as part of a group called “Club Puertorriqueno de Personas Mayores.”

But for many Puerto Ricans in Los Angeles, the dance nights are few.

Luis Vega, 33, a private Spanish teacher who lives in Silver Lake, spends much of his time tutoring, writing free-lance journalism pieces and managing a 15-unit apartment building. A native of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, Vega’s small apartment features a large Puerto Rican flag--red, white and blue with a single star--and numerous snapshots of the island.

While Vega is proud of his roots and misses his family, he feels at home in Los Angeles. Since arriving in the area in 1979 to study television production and journalism, he has found a lifestyle he enjoys.

“I feel a part of the Los Angeles community,” said Vega, who is not related to Carlos Vega. “I think Puerto Ricans tend to be more individualistic than other Latinos. We don’t come here for political reasons.”

And whether Puerto Ricans in Los Angeles find other reasons to routinely turn to each other for help remains to be seen.

Juan A. Figueroa, president and general counsel for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the New York-based agency is involved with issues affecting Puerto Ricans throughout the nation but has yet to be called upon for anything specific to Los Angeles.

“I know Puerto Ricans get lumped into the majority community,” Figueroa said. “That’s good if the Mexican American leadership is paying attention. It’s bad if they’re not and the community gets lost.”