New York City Global Partners


	Santo Domingo Home Current Initiatives Past Activities

	Creating the Partnership In 1983, under the Mayor Ed Koch's administration, New York City and Santo Domingo joined together in a Sister City Partnership. New York City and the Dominican Republic have engaged in business and commerce with each other frequently in the past, and the partnership became a formal recognition of the two cities' historical relationship. Moreover, as New York City is the largest home to Dominicans outside of the Dominican Republic, this newly established Sister City relationship offers the unique opportunity to engage directly with the Dominican communities in Manhattan.

	Cathedral of Santo Domingo. Linking the Two Cities Internationally As a city respected internationally for its business and cultural opportunities, Santo Domingo has been a valuable partner to New York City since the Sister City Proclamation was signed in 1983. Throughout the years, the Sister City Program has worked to assist the government of Santo Domingo with pressing municipal problems and concerns and increased mutually beneficial business and commerce between both cities. Additionally, the Sister City Program has sought to facilitate a continual exchange of cultural experiences.

	Santo Domingo street scene

	Dominican Day Parade, NYC, 2001 Linking the Two Cities Within New York While New York City's relationships with many of its Sister Cities focuses on interaction on a municipal level, the partnership with Santo Domingo offers a unique opportunity to work on a grassroots level within New York. New York City claims the largest population of Dominican residents outside of the Dominican Republic, with an estimated one million Dominicans residing mostly in the culturally rich Washington Heights-Inwood section of Manhattan. The Sister City Program has addressed making immigration procedures more efficient, improving interaction between the New York City Government and Dominicans residing in New York City, and enhancing communication between New York residential Dominicans and the government in Santo Domingo.

	Linking the two Cities in the Twenty-First Century Over the past eighteen years, the partnership has evolved into a unique program that bolsters both strong connections with leaders in Washington Heights-Inwood and also with top public officials in Santo Domingo. While the Sister City Program aims to maintain close communication with the Santo Domingo government, with such an expansive and vibrant Dominican Community within New York City, the program has shifted much of its energy towards integrating the Dominican Community and its needs into the Santo Domingo partnership.