Brilliance and Blight: The Invisible Man of Frederiksted
A TALE OF TWO ST. CROIXS: In the shadow of the Brilliance of the Seas, the Frederiksted Waterfront Park presents a study in tragic contrast. Above, a young couple is suspended in a postcard-perfect embrace—a symbol of the "paradise" the territory sells to the world. Just 50 feet away, the St. Croix Sun captures the reality Governor Bryan promised to "address": Victor Cruz Jr. left to fend for himself on the public sidewalk. It is a haunting reminder that while the cruise ships bring temporary light, the village's most vulnerable remain in the dark. (St. Croix Sun photo by: JOHN McCARTHY)
By JOHN McCARTHY / St. Croix Sun Investigative Reporter
FREDERIKSTED — The Brilliance of the Seas sat at the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility on Monday, a gleaming $800 million fortress of luxury that served as a backdrop for a postcard-perfect scene in the Waterfront Park. A young couple, lost in a public embrace, captured the exact "paradise" image the Department of Tourism works so hard to project.
But the St. Croix Sun’s lens captured a different reality just 50 feet away.
Tucked onto the sidewalk, shielded from the tourists' immediate line of sight but impossible to ignore for those who live here, sat a homeless man. He wasn't just "unhoused"; he was living in a state of advanced neglect, sitting in his own wet urine while the world's elite walked past.
THE SERVICE PARADOX: While passengers from the Brilliance of the Seas stroll the modern Frederiksted promenade, they pass within feet of Victor Cruz Jr.—a man who spent his career as an orderly, serving meals to the sick at the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital. Today, the "dignity" he once provided to our most vulnerable is nowhere to be found. As high-tech solutions like Starlink connect the globe, the connection between our government’s promises and the man on the sidewalk remains broken. Victor sits in his own wet urine, a haunting reminder that the "village" has failed its most loyal servants. (St. Croix Sun photo by: JOHN McCARTHY)
This is the "other" St. Croix that Governor Albert Bryan Jr. promised to fix during his morning briefing. While the Governor used Monday to pledge his "bold commitment" to fixing WAPA and modernizing the territory, the mental health crisis remains a ghost at the feast.
The promise of "needed treatment" for the territory’s mentally ill sounds like a hollow echo when the reality on the Frederiksted waterfront is one of human degradation in the shadow of a cruise ship. As Elon Musk attempts to colonize Mars with surgical precision, St. Croix can’t even seem to provide a dignified existence for its most vulnerable citizens on the sidewalk.
Until the "village" that Dusty May talks about includes the man on the sidewalk as much as the man in the VIP lounge, the Brilliance is just a temporary mask on a deep, untreated wound.
