Looking for love –– or just a free night out on the town?
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we’re launching Metro Matchmaker.
The deal: We’ll pay for a blind date between two New Yorkers and the two of you will appear in the pages of Metro.
Think you’d like to be set up on a blind date with a fellow Metro reader? E-mail
photos@metro.us and tell us why you’re a good match. We’ll be in touch if you’re chosen for a date.
Include a little bit about yourself: Name, occupation, age and what you’re looking for in a date. Let the sparks fly!
The background
This week, OKCupid revealed the compatibility of New York City daters based on where they live.
After studying their “match percentages,” the popular online dating site noticed that people from certain neighborhoods were better matches than others. For example, Astoria-ites are a good match with those who live in Long Island City. But the two most compatible neighborhoods by far were Bed-Stuy and Greenpoint.
So Metro decided to put their little theory to the test. We set up Emily, a 21-year-old paralegal who lives in Bed-Stuy with Mat, a film editor in Greenpoint. Was it love at first site? Find out!
His story
Name: Mathew Ein
Age: 30
Hometown: Old Tappan, N.J.
Now lives in: Greenpoint
Occupation: Film and TV editor
What do you like most about your neighborhood?: Lots of parks for my dog to roam in. Pretty much every kind of food within 10 minutes of home that’s half the price of Manhattan. No tourists is also nice.
Your ideal date: Keep me interested intellectually and I’m happy.
My take: The date with Emily was fun. Barcade was a great place to start. The video games make for a great icebreaker. I think Bed-Stuy people like Greenpoint people because Bed-Stuy is more residential, while Greenpoint has more of a social scene, without the Williamsburg pretentiousness. But I wouldn’t say neighborhoods define people, like OKCupid says. New York is far too diverse.
Her story
Name: Emily Stainkamp
Age: 21
Hometown: Greensboro, N.C.
Now lives in: Bed-Stuy
Occupation: Paralegal
What do you love about your neighborhood?: Low rent, relative flatness (for cycling), proximity to Fulton Street, brownstones, rap history.
Your ideal date: An evening involving excellent food and/or cheap whiskey.
My take: Neither of us are “from” the neighborhoods in Brooklyn where we live, so I don’t know how much these OKCupid aggregates have to do with our relative compatibility. I lived in Greenpoint six months ago, in fact.
That said, Mat was a nice dude, though predictably we didn’t seem to have a ton in common. Also, I don’t live on the G train, so I’m a little skeptical that I can ever find love in north Brooklyn.
He was very good at Tetris, though!
