Everything costs money in today’s NYC — even making a friend.
Every day, from packed subway cars to pedestrian-choked sidewalks, go-go Gothamites are surrounded by millions of other people wondering how to find more meaningful friendships — forever a challenge in this fast-paced city, and now even more so in the smartphone-obsessed modern age.
To bridge (and tunnel) the widening connection gap, Big Apple bond-hunters are increasingly banking on a growing number of paid pal-finding services — hoping to foster new platonic relationships.
These apps and websites are bringing New Yorkers together IRL, beating back the ongoing loneliness crisis — and in some cases, even spurring serious connections.
After going through a devastating breakup in early 2025, Manhattan-based gynecologist Lauren, 33, decided to give a friend-making service a shot, hoping to assuage some of the isolation she felt from being the only single gal in her friend group.
“I realized my circle of girlfriends was made up of mostly people in relationships,” she told The Post, asking that her last name not be used. “I really wanted to meet some girls in the city who had the shared experience of being single in NYC that I could commiserate and go out with.”
After seeing one too many Instagram ads, Lauren took a chance on 222 — a company that prides itself on connecting like-minded users by utilizing an in-depth questionnaire to connect potential friends through a smorgasbord of shared group experiences.
The cost of participation is $17 per event (or a monthly membership of $22, which waives the event fees) — plus the cost of food and drink.
Before attending a 222 event, a small group of like-minded users is matched for dinner or drinks after filling out an in-depth personality assessment, which features questions like “Would you rather go clubbing or have a daytime picnic?”
The matched group is then attends a follow-up activity — where the pendulum can swing from bull riding at a country bar to laughing it up at a comedy show — to meet the rest of the 222 crowd.
Luckily for Lauren, she quickly found what she was looking for — a then-fellow single friend, Izzy U., 28, who would quickly become one of her ride-or-dies.
“222 was the only friend-making service that I ended up trying, because it was immediately very successful,” Izzy, who asked to withhold her last name due to the sensitive nature of her job, told The Post. “I felt like I had been in the city for a really long time and had struggled to meet people outside of work…I wanted to branch out and meet new people, and this felt like the best way to do that.”
Izzy also helped connect Lauren with her future husband and will officiate her pal’s wedding.
“I was lamenting online dating to Izzy and showed her (my now fiancé’s) profile to ask if we should go on a date,” Lauren recalled. “She actually remembered him from work and told me they had worked on a project together years ago — and vouched for him when I was planning to cancel the date.”
While friend-making apps and services like 222 have been viewed as a somewhat niche avenue to meet new people, the category is growing quickly — and there are now a ton to choose from, with varying event price points.
Kindred and Timeleft focus on bringing small groups of strangers, fewer than 10, together for curated group activities. Parlour Social Club and Clockout are dual-designed for professional networking. RealRoots is female-focused and encourages members to invest time and attention into the same small group of women for six weeks in the hopes of creating long-lasting bonds.
Meetup.com brings small groups of users together based on specific interests, like meditation or trivia, while Bumble BFF allows users to swipe on each other for a potential friend match, the same way they would for potential love interests.
Lauren Tetenbaum, LCSW, an NYC psychotherapist and author who specializes in supporting women through life transitions, views friend-making apps and services as an effective way to meet people with shared interests, since organically meeting someone new feels like an almost impossible feat nowadays.
“Solid friendships or even just moments of bonding can reduce stress, boost self-esteem and protect against anxiety or depression,” she continued. “When we feel lonely or compare our social lives to curated (online) feeds, we tend to feel lost, sad and disconnected — like something is wrong with us,” Tetenbaum told The Post.
“Some people may be reluctant to try these apps because they seem untraditional — but just as dating apps have become mainstream, friendship apps can be life-changing and lead to really fulfilling relationships,” the expert pointed out. “It’s important to be open-minded about who you might connect with and why. You never know how deep a connection can go, but it’s worth trying to reduce loneliness or build your network with a bit of fun.”
While this sect of apps and services is meant for members to cultivate lasting bonds and friendships, walking away with a BFF is, of course, not always guaranteed.
Shortly after moving to NYC last July, Mathew M., a 23-year-old engineer based in Midtown West, found the “majority of (his) friend group” through 222’s meet-ups. However, he wasn’t as successful when he joined a soccer league through Volo, an adult social sports network with a strong presence in NYC.
“Volo lacks a lot of structure,” the Manhattanite told The Post. “A lot of our games were canceled due to weather, with nothing rescheduled. They kind of (use) the 222 format, where you go play a game and then go to a bar. But no one really goes to the bars after. There’s no real pushing you towards the social side of it, which is why people do these things…I think it’s super hit or miss.”
Luckily for Julie Ferguson, CEO and founder of Positive Momentum Project, her friend-making attempt was a hit.
The 39-year-old tried both Timeleft and NYC Brunch Squad after finding herself bombarded with Instagram ads for both shortly after moving to NYC in 2022, when she was looking to grow her network and general friend group.
Timeleft, an app where users sign up for Wednesday night dinners with six “like-minded” people who sync up with one’s general demographic and neighborhood, turned out to be a fun but temporary hit for Ferguson because she found it too “restrictive” for her schedule and wasn’t a fan of the co-ed service, noting that both “women and men tend to act slightly different when the opposite sex is around.”
But with NYC Brunch Squad, a women-only operation that hosts events ranging from book clubs to upstate apple-picking, she enjoyed the slightly more elevated, female empowerment-focused vibe. She also met one of her closest friends, Veronica Hernandez, through the group, whose Austin, Texas, wedding she’ll be attending in a few weeks.
“I’m super grateful for Veronica’s friendship — she’s got a kind heart and she’s really fun to be around,” Ferguson told the Post. “We’re like kindred spirits. I wouldn’t have met her if I hadn’t gone to New York City Brunch Squad, for sure.”
For 29-year-old sales manager Caroline S., signing up for Hot and Social — a Big Apple-based events company founded by content creator Liv Schreiber that curates gatherings designed to help adults connect and make friends — turned out to be a major hit.
“New York is such a social city on the surface, but it can actually feel really isolating because everyone is busy, always on the go and already has their routines,” Caroline, who tried the service to meet “other girls in NYC who shared similar interests and were open to making new friends,” told The Post.
“It’s not always easy to meet people in a genuine way. What Hot and Social does so well is take away that awkward barrier — everyone shows up with the same intention of meeting people, which makes it feel so much more natural and less intimidating,” she explained.
After attending her first H&S event — an after-work yoga class at Hall des Lumières — with a coworker, Caroline met a group of girls with whom she remains close “years later.”
“We’ve gone on vacations together and regularly get together for dinners and nights out,” said the sales manager.
“Those friendships have grown into something much deeper than just people I met at an event, which I think really speaks to how genuine the connections can be. I’d like to think the universe would have brought us together somehow — but I’m so grateful that Liv and the Hot and Social team helped spark those relationships and make it happen.”
