3 hours ago
1
It was the question that started it all — “Excuse me, are you two a couple?”
In 2023, three friends — Aaron Feinberg, Jeremy Bernstein and Victor Lee, all 31 — started approaching unsuspecting couples on the street, asking about how they met and what made their relationships work. Bernstein did the interviewing, while Feinberg and Lee filmed the encounters and posted them online. About half the time, they were turned down, but the other half of the time yielded wonderfully relatable and hopeful content.
Their initiative, Meet Cutes, quickly went viral, amassing 3 million followers on Instagram and 1.9 million on TikTok. Now, the trio have turned the phenomenon into a book, “Meet Cutes NYC: True Stories of Love and Connection” (Artisan Books, out now).
From more than 5,000 videos, Feinberg, Bernstein and Lee selected a diverse mix of 85 couples of all ages and backgrounds for the book.
“It’s a piece of hope that love is possible and shows you that it can mean so many different things to different people,” Feinberg, who is single and “looking,” said. “There’s no science behind it.”
Here, they share a few of their favorite couples.
Alice & Geoffrey
The two first met decades ago while working at Channel 13 — she was an assistant on “American Family,” and he was a mail clerk. Every week, Geoffrey delivered the stacks of fashion magazines Alice ordered to her office. One day, he overheard her on the phone saying dramatically, “Oh, darling, I was just in Morocco. The death in Morocco, darling,” and he couldn’t resist mocking her. Alice caught him and shouted, “Who the hell do you think you are?”
Later, when she had an extra ticket to a popular late-night show, she invited Geoffrey along. Afterward, they walked 46 blocks home, talking the entire way — and they haven’t stopped since.
“Alice and Geoffrey’s story is one of our all-time favorites,” Feinberg told The Post. “It’s sharp, unexpected and completely unforgettable. It’s proof that love doesn’t always start with sparks. Sometimes it starts with sarcasm and a mail cart.”
Mike & Karen
The pair met in a college lecture hall. Mike secretly wished Karen would sit next to him — she did. He asked her out, only to learn she had a boyfriend.
Years later, she was single and they started dating. But after a couple years together, they broke up because Mike wasn’t ready. Then, two years after that, they ran into each crossing a street and have been together ever since.
“Their video is one of our five most popular,” Lee told The Post.
“Their story resonated so deeply because it’s about second chances, the kind of imperfect, full-circle love that feels both cinematic and real,” Feinberg added. “Timing matters and love doesn’t always unfold in a straight line.”
Thuy & San
Thuy and San were wearing matching hoodies when Feinberg, Lee, and Bernstein saw them in Clinton Hill on a grocery run. The pair met at a NYC climbing gym while Thuy was visiting from San Francisco. “San followed her up the wall, they chatted, and that was that, or so it seemed,” Lee said. “A few months later, Thuy moved to New York, and once again, she ran into San at a climbing gym. This time, San knew it was fate.”
Thuy and San were wearing matching hoodies when Feinberg, Lee and Bernstein saw them in Clinton Hill on a grocery run. The pair met at a NYC climbing gym while Thuy was visiting from San Francisco. “San followed her up the wall, they chatted, and that was that, or so it seemed,” Lee said. “A few months later, Thuy moved to New York, and once again, she ran into San at a climbing gym. This time, San knew it was fate.”
Joe & Liza
Feinberg saw them in Williamsburg one day when he was by himself and was struck by how affectionate they were. “I thought they were a new couple, but they had been together 15 years,” he said.
The pair met when Liza walked into Joe’s hardware store with her boyfriend.
“Joe immediately thought, I hope I meet someone like her someday. Turns out, it wasn’t someone like her, it was her,” Feinberg told The Post. “Liza wasn’t happy in her relationship, and eventually made a change. The connection she felt with Joe was undeniable, and they’ve been together ever since.”
English (US)