1 hour ago
3
Alan Gabay has found plenty of success in his real estate career. Finding the right guy has proven trickier.
The Serhant broker turned 70 on June 11 and decided a milestone birthday called for a bold move. Rather than wait for romance to find him, he organized two parties. Both were documented on Instagram — one on a Manhattan rooftop and one in a Miami cocktail lounge — and he invited every eligible bachelor he could think of to attend.
“I’m 70 and single and so I thought, let’s throw a party and see if we change that,” Gabay told The Post. “And I was telling my friends maybe if you have some eligible people, let me know.”
The New York celebration took place at Inc. 48, a former warehouse turned hotel near 11th Avenue and 48th Street, where Gabay commandeered a corner of the rooftop lounge for his roughly 60 guests.
He timed it for his actual birthday, choosing an outdoor setting during pleasant weather.
“It’s beautiful outside,” he recalled thinking. “So let’s just go outside. Let’s enjoy this.”
For the Miami leg, Gabay skipped the trendy club scene in favor of a friend’s ’80s- and ’90s-themed bar called The Right Hand. He wanted something more intimate, closer to the vibe he’d created on the rooftop.
“I didn’t want to go to some over-the-top Miami restaurant or bar,” he said.
Word spread well beyond his immediate circle. Gabay posted about the parties on social media in the weeks leading up to the events, and the response caught him off guard.
“I must have had maybe 50 or 75 DMs just from people — probably more — that want to meet me,” he said. Messages arrived from as far as London and Germany.
By the end of the New York party, nothing had materialized. Gabay chalked it up to familiarity.
“Turns out I already know everybody in this city,” he said.
Miami told a different story. There, he connected with a man about 10 years his junior, someone he’d never met, who arrived at the party dressed to impress after seeing a photo of Gabay in his white tie and black suit.
“He came in a tuxedo thinking that he wanted to look as good as I did and dress up for the occasion,” Gabay said. “And I thought that was really sweet.”
The two spent the party talking and hit it off enough that a date followed.
“We felt very, very comfortable with each other,” he said. “I haven’t really been asked out on a date for a long time. I’m usually the one that’s asking. So I was like, ‘oh, this is very nice.’”
As for what he’s looking for, Gabay says it’s quite simple.
“It’s not about age as much. It’s about people that are really comfortable in their own skin,” he said. “I need somebody who’s confident in themselves.”
He described himself as someone who thrives on culture, museums, gallery openings, travel and dining out, but doesn’t expect a partner to share every interest.
“I’m not going to say don’t do it,” he said of hobbies he doesn’t share, like hiking. “You have to be able to give and take in a relationship.”
Gabay has had five serious relationships over the decades, including a six-year run with a man 25 years younger named Cameron. His shortest relationship, less than a year, ended after he discovered his partner was using drugs.
His most recent relationship ended two years ago after three years together, when Gabay realized his partner, a mortgage broker, expected more support than Gabay was willing to give.
“I’m not here to take care of you,” he said. “I’m here to build something together.”
Despite the string of near misses, Gabay says he refuses to give up. He points to his own father, who found companionship at 90 after Gabay’s mother passed away, meeting a woman who lived in the same building for decades without either of them knowing it.
“If he can do it, you know, I’m hopeful that I can do it too,” Gabay said. “I just don’t believe that I have to lose hope.”
He’s tried dating apps but prefers meeting people organically.
“I like meeting people in person,” he said. “I think you get to know more about somebody in person than you do through a dating app.”
“My oldest friend I know is from kindergarten and I have a tremendous amount of friends that go back that far. So I’m not lonely in the sense that I can never find somebody to do something with,” Gabay said. “But, it’s always nice to be with somebody in a relationship. And I find there’s a lot of people that are still out there that are in the same type of boat for one reason or another.”
For now, Gabay is keeping the Miami connection under wraps until he knows more.
“Whether or not it is the one, I don’t know,” he said, adding their first date is coming over the weekend. “Stay tuned for the hard launch.”
English (US)