the warmer months when outdoor activities
were possible.
While some were still trying to date,
no matter the weather, others had given
up on dating during the pandemic.
Some said they were waiting until vaccines
are distributed to begin dating
again.
One Astoria Reddit user who goes
by Jay, who like Finley has met people
in person during the pandemic, told
BORO, “With most things closed and
it being winter, most dates just happen
in one of our houses.”
Astoria resident Amanda Servedio
meets matches at bars with outdoor
seating. She recently went to The
Bonnie, which has heat lamps and
dividers between tables. She recommended
following the Instagram account
@covid.date.spots to find more
outdoor date locations across NYC,
including western Queens restaurants
Nino’s AQ, DiWine and Jora RestoBar.
Queens residents on Reddit also recommend
Amylos Taverna, Tru, Telly’s
Taverna, Agnanti and Tufino Pizzeria.
Serevdio, who uses Tinder, Bumble
and Hinge to meet people, said she’s
also been going on a lot of virtual dates.
28 FEBRUARY 2 0 2 1
“I’ve done more phone calls and
FaceTime ‘dates’ this year than I ever
have in the past,” she said.
Before the pandemic, Astoria
resident Nadia Galpern met men in
person at singles events, at bars and
online. Now, she’s relying on various
digital platforms, such as Hinge,
Bumble and Ship, an app that lets
your friends help you find matches.
Galpern tends to text matches via
the apps before moving on to video
calls.
She is also active on singles Facebook
groups for Jews like Corona
Crushes and MeetJew Post-Grad Dating,
which has a matchmaking feature.
Members can fill out a form with information
and preferences, and the
group administrators send a weekly
email of matches with their email or
social media profile.
“Sometimes I slide into DMs,” Galpern
said.
She’s also tried virtual speed dating
on apps like Filter Off, but said she often
ends up connecting with men who
don’t live in New York.
One benefit of starting with a video
date is that it has saved Galpern from
bad in-person dates. Once, she had a
quick, spontaneous video chat with a
match she’d planned on meeting in
person. They didn’t hit it off, so she
canceled the date.
“If you can’t have a four-minute conversation,
then how are you going to
have an hour or so date?” she said.
Psychotherapist Krol, who often discusses
dating with her clients, noticed
that some people will take more time to
get to know each other virtually before
meeting up offline. For those who are
meeting virtually, she suggests treating
those dates like regular, in-person dates,
such as getting dressed up to show the
other person you put in effort and care.
“You can get a little excited for it, get
yourself in that kind of mood, excited
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