Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Single? These New Yorkers want you to date their friends.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Mar 23, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Courtesy of "Date My Friend"
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Mar 23, 2026
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Out: Promoting yourself. In: Promoting your friends.
“Date My Friend,” a new event series, is putting wingmen front and center by having them sell their single besties to crowds of eager bachelors and bachelorettes.
The idea for the singles-night-with-a-twist came after creator Brit O’Brien noticed her single male friends weren’t meeting anyone when they’d go out.
“As someone who really likes all my single guy friends, I was like, 'Man, whenever we go to shows, you guys never meet anybody or talk to anybody,'” said O’Brien, a married Los Angeles-based music photographer. She said it inspired her to create a space that would feel “like a concert venue, but you can talk to people.”
She held the first “Date My Friend” event this January, and it unexpectedly sold out after a Partiful for it somehow went viral, which “we didn’t even know was a thing that could happen.” The next five events they set up also sold out, “so we just know there is such a desire for this kind of space right now.”
It’s not just Angelenos: "Date My Friend" lands in New York, at Alphabet City’s Night Club 101 this March 25, and quickly sold out. (There are still some tickets left for the second date she subsequently added, at Ridgewood’s Cassette on March 26.)
So big is the market for similar events that there are multiple other entities with the same name — O’Brien reached out and got the preexisting "Date My Friend SF" organizers’ blessing before launching, and makes clear in the fine print that she’s not associated with an app that trademarked the name.
O’Brien, 33, expects New York “pitchers” to be funnier and more teasing in promoting their “catches” than their Californian counterparts. Indeed, it turns out that even within LA, the way people choose to promote their friends varies significantly neighborhood to neighborhood.
“In Santa Monica, peoples’ pitches were straight to the point. They're like, ‘She's looking for someone who looks like Timothy Chalamet and she works in real estate. If you want her, you have to be a 10,'” O’Brien recalled. Meanwhile, in East LA, pitchers gave rambling presentations more akin to wedding speeches. No matter how pitchers go about it, though, it’s a pretty inherently bonding experience for them and their friends, O’Brien said.
So far, there are at least two couples who’ve met through the series, and O’Brien thinks it offers everyone a wholesome, earnest good time that’s most importantly very genuinely human. That’s significant when “every person who’s there hates the apps and has deleted them and is like, I’m so not doing that anymore, it’s been nothing but a problem for me and just feels so robotic,” she said.
In addition to feeling refreshingly offline, the events also offer singles another thing that apps do not: a fun story about how you met your partner.
Tagged
Existing in New York City
Hannah Frishberg
Hannah Frishberg covers New York City arts and culture. Got a tip? Email Hannah at [email protected].
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Do NYC restaurant workers have their knives out for the Anthony Bourdain movie?
Kitchen staff share their thoughts after an industry screening of "Tony."
By
Sonia Rao
Published Aug 5, 2026
NYC and NJ players celebrate the beginning of the Women's Pro Baseball League
Sabrina Robinson and Nylah Ramirez both join the Boston Hunters.
By
Michael Hill
and
Amanda Rozon
Arts & Entertainment
NYC and NJ players celebrate the beginning of the Women's Pro Baseball League
Sabrina Robinson and Nylah Ramirez both join the Boston Hunters.
By
Michael Hill
and
Amanda Rozon
August concerts in NYC means bands on a boat, in a backyard, and in parks
By
Hank Shteamer
Group of rays spotted swimming in heavily polluted Newtown Creek
By
Hannah Frishberg
Is NYC an all-you-can-eat buffet town? A 5-year-old investigates.
By
James Ramsay
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .