Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Times Wedding Couple Dumped Spouses For Each Other
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 19, 2010
Modified Dec 20, 2010
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 .
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 19, 2010
Modified Dec 20, 2010
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
The NY Times wedding section is a place where people go to envy, analyze, or mock couples who manage to get announcements of their happy unions immortalized. It's not usually a place where you reel in disgust—until today's Vows column which describes two successful middle-aged people who "met in 2006 in a pre-kindergarten classroom. They both had children attending the same Upper West Side school. They also both had spouses." Dunh dunh DUNH.
Since their announcement is in the Times, the two obviously got married: Former WNBC 4 reporter Carol Anne Riddell and media executive John Partilla, now 44 and 46 respectively, apparently fell in love in love amidst school functions—and dinners, Christmas parties, and family vacations their families took together. Before they admitted their feelings to each other, Riddell "said she remembered crying in the shower, asking: 'Why am I being punished? Why did someone throw him in my path when I can’t have him?'" But after painful disclosures to their spouses, separation, and all that other stuff, the couple got married last month. Partilla, who has three kids with his previous wife, said, “I didn’t believe in the word soul mate before, but now I do." Ouch.
Gawker, which finds this scandalous though maybe self-fulfilling, draws attention to the Twitterverse's reaction: Dana Stevens, Slate's movie critic, Tweeted, "That Vows column was staggeringly monstrous. I'm waiting for the Modern Love column that's a rebuttal from the abandoned spouses," while financial journalist Heidi Moore believes, "Better than 'we were led to each other by careerist unicorns dropping rose petals,'" later adding, "My theory on why that couple did Vows: 'we destroyed marriages, yes, but at least we did it for something real. So real it's in the NYT.'"
However, this is the not the first time the Times has mentioned couples emerging after breaking up with spouses/girlfriends/boyfriend, though it might be the most blatant (usually it's just a more facile mention of the timing not being right). At any rate, enjoy this NY Times wedding announcement as a palate cleanser.
Tagged
carol anne riddell
john partilla
ny times
soul mate
vows
wedding
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
ICE agent fires 7 rounds, shoots man in neck in NYC's Marble Hill, NYPD says
Police say the man arrived at a hospital in stable condition and a 5-year-old boy in his SUV is safe.
By
Giulia Heyward
and
Arya Sundaram
Published Oct 8, 2026 at 5:33 p.m. ET
Modified Oct 8, 2026 at 11:48 p.m. ET
Lazy drivers in Prospect Heights lose chance for 1 less day of alternate-side parking
A pilot found that drivers actually complied with alternate-side less when fewer days were in effect.
By
Liam Quigley
News
Lazy drivers in Prospect Heights lose chance for 1 less day of alternate-side parking
A pilot found that drivers actually complied with alternate-side less when fewer days were in effect.
By
Liam Quigley
Jersey City mayor shakes up staff amid $255M budget gap
By
Michael Sol Warren
Bronx residents will be exempt from new Medicaid work rule, state officials say
By
Caroline Lewis
MTA chair accuses Andy Byford, who's leading Penn Station rebuild, of going 'full MAGA'
By
Stephen Nessen
and
Carol Chen
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 .