ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown, a municipality with a significant Dominican population, has gained a new sister city in the Dominican Republic city of Santo Domingo Este.
- Santo Domingo Este, Dominican Republic, is an official sister city of Allentown following the adoption of an ordinance by city council on Wednesday.
- Council Vice President Cynthia Mota, who was born in the Dominican Republic, spearheaded the idea, saying it acknowledges the connection the many Dominican residents of Allentown have to their former country.
- Santo Domingo Este joins the three established sister city relationships the Allentown has in Lelów, Poland, Tiberias, Israel and Vinci, Italy.
An ordinance establishing the relationship was passed unanimously by City Council at its Wednesday meeting.
Outgoing council president and current Vice President Cynthia Mota, who spearheaded the idea, said it acknowledges the connection Dominican residents have to their former country.
"At this point, we have over 20,000 Dominican people in the City of Allentown," Mota said. "If you look at the supermarkets, if you look at the convenience stores, most of them are Dominicans, and I think that it's extremely important to have that relationship between the Dominican Republic and the City of Allentown."
"At this point, we have over 20,000 Dominican people in the City of Allentown. If you look at the supermarkets, if you look at the convenience stores, most of them are Dominicans, and I think that it's extremely important to have that relationship between the Dominican Republic and the City of Allentown."Allentown City Council Vice President Cynthia Mota
Mota was born in Santo Domingo Este, she said, and being able to represent the community on the council of the third largest city in Pennsylvania is a big thing.
It also points to the significance of two members of council — she and Natalie Santos — being of Dominican descent, Mota said.
"My dream was to make the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo Este, where I was raised, where I was born, a sister city," Mota said. "So it's a dream come true.
"It's saying, 'Hey, we're here, but we don't forget about you guys over there.'"
The city is in the southeast area of the island, nearby to capital Santo Domingo.
In September, about 20 people from Allentown, including Mota, Mayor Matt Tuerk and other business and community leaders, visited the country for four days. Meetings of officials were greeted with flags of both cities being displayed together.
The mayor "got to see the diversity, he got to see the people there, and he was able to see what we were all about," Mota said. "He got to know the culture. And I think that he was very beneficial."
Mota also said that two years ago, on a visit to Allentown, the mayor of Santo Domingo Este was able to view its infrastructure and even changed some of the garbage disposal strategies back in his city as a result.
Santo Domingo Este joins the three established sister city relationships the City of Allentown has in Lelów, Poland, Tiberias, Israel and Vinci, Italy.
