Making friends in NY

[alex ballard]

It appears that when I'm coming to NY, my family (some of it) will be leaving it. So, are NYers apt to making friends? I mean, I know college will help a lot, but what about at work? At home? Public?

I heard that many cities are seeing "friends" communites pop up, where friends become like family. Is NY experiencing that trend?

[Clarknt67]

It appears that when I'm coming to NY, my family (some of it) will be leaving it. So, are NYers apt to making friends? I mean, I know college will help a lot, but what about at work? At home? Public?

I heard that many cities are seeing "friends" communites pop up, where friends become like family. Is NY experiencing that trend?

Making friends post-college in NYC can be difficult. I moved here after college at 26 and experience a lonely first year. In NYC people are hard to get close to, as they're suspicious of strangers (with good reason). Many people are set in their ways socially, having little time to keep up with the friends they do have, let alone make new ones (I must admit I'm in that catagory now).

That said, the techniques for connection are universal, do what you like to do and you'll bump into people with similar interests. Craig's list (www.craigslist.org) can be helpful so can volunteering for a cause you support (God's Love We Deliver, a polical cause or candiate, etc...) Or join an urban sports team.

I've met some of my better friends in this city just by random crossing of paths (one was a neighbor in my apartment, another I just struck up a conversation with on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, others I've met at the gym or work).

Without knowing more about you, I'm not sure what to suggest. But good luck. And though New Yorkers can be hard to get to know, they're some of the smartest most interesting people on the Earth, so they're worth the trouble.

[TLOZ Link5]

Today was the second time in eight days that I chatted it up with a random stranger on public transit. I was on the B train and a woman sat next to me when she got on at 42nd Street-Bryant Park. She works for Verizon and we talked a little bit about the sale of the 6th Avenue building, and how much she hoped that she wasn't transferred to Basking Ridge. She lives far uptown, maybe Harlem, Washington Heights or Inwood, so commuting to New Jersey would take her two and a half hours one-way. So we talked about that, her night classes in accounting at CCNY, and NYU — turns out she took some classes there in the early '80s. In my experience, New Yorkers are definitely nice people after being slightly gruff in the first minute or so of talking.

[BrooklynRider]

I always found that sleeping with anonymous strangers led to a number of inevitable friendships. For instance, my partner of four years.

[NYatKNIGHT]

I find if you visit your local bar somewhat frequently, you get to know new people in no time.