When former Miss USA Nana Meriwether admitted she’d joined online dating site Tinder to find love, many New Yorkers gasped over the state of dating in the city.
“Here’s the thing about dating in New York: It doesn’t exist,” Meriwether said.
“People in New York are so busy,” adds Sam Yagan, co-founder of OkCupid. “There’s no patience, and old-school dating requires a lot of patience.
“Online,” he says, “you know more about them than you do if you meet them at a bar.”
And Miss USA isn’t the only crown jewel in the dating pool.
The Post found five of the hottest single local babes who’ve become disillusioned with the NYC dating scene and have gone online to meet guys.
Men, meet some of Gotham’s most eligible bachelorettes:
(Anne Wermiel/NY Post)
(Anne Wermiel/NY Post)
(Anne Wermiel/NY Post)
(Anne Wermiel/NY Post)
THE IVY ASSASSIN
Diana Budur
Lives in: Chelsea
Occupation: Model with the Monarch agency
Dating site: Tinder
Measurements: 32A-27-34
When it comes to a combination of brains and beauty, Budur is at the top of her class.
The 27-year-old model holds an undergrad degree from Stanford, is currently enrolled at Princeton and speaks five languages in addition to English (French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and her native Romanian).
Alcohol plays a role in her move online and away from dating in bars.
“I don’t drink,” admits Budur. “I’d rather talk to people when they’re not drunk. If you meet at the bar, they’re at the bar for a reason. They’re already drunk.”
After tiring of intoxicated player types, the sleek-bobbed brunette recently went online and finds it empowering.
“[Online dating] is like a screening center. It gives you a little more hope and it gives you power,” she says. “It’s an iPhone app, and it’s fun to swipe left, right, left, right. It’s very easy. It’s better than playing a game.”
The ideal man she’s swiping for?
“They have to have a good body, good smile and they have to have something warm about them. They have to be approachable and friendly.”
And she has a geographic requirement: “I want someone who lives in the city, preferably Manhattan.”
<a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/photos_hot_models_looking_for_nyc_luU34WOo7ZFBAIQvufsZzO” target=’_BLANK’>
THE BEAUTY QUEEN
Nicole Almodovar
Lives in: South Jamaica, Queens
Occupation: former beauty queen/nonprofit coordinator
Dating site: match.com
Measurements: 34B-27-36
Like Miss USA, Almodovar has had more luck collecting pageant sashes than suitors.
The former Miss Pennsylvania (2012) and Miss Maryland (2010) once went out with a guy who was so awkward and rude, he asked to borrow her phone.
“He called another woman to come pick him up from my cellphone,” she says with a laugh. The 32-year-old has been Internet dating on and off for a few years, partly to expand her choice of suitors.
“New York City is actually a small world, and if you run in the same circles, you’re bound to meet the same people,” she says. “I try to go outside of those circles. Online dating has helped that a little bit.”
A sports fan, she wants a guy who knows how to be himself.
“Just put your best foot forward. Make a sports reference. We’re approachable,” she says. “There are people who are not beauty queens that aren’t as approachable, so you have to gauge it. Beauty queens put the energy out there.”
THE LORD LOVER
Katherine Davis
Lives in: Baldwin, LI
Occupation: model
Dating site: christianmingle.com
Measurements: 32DD-23-35
Don’t be fooled by Davis’ dangerous curves. The Hawaiian Tropic model, 28, is on God’s squad.
“When people see me, they imagine something very different,” says Davis, who is signed with the Monarch agency.
The Latina is looking for a God-fearing Christian.
“That is not negotiable,” says the Venezuelan-born, Long Island-raised bikini beauty, whose dream guy is Tim Tebow.
“[Tebow] is the perfect guy for me. He’s a Christian. He’s into charitable work, and I’m into charitable work. And he has blue eyes. That’s a winner.”
Davis, who was in a nine-month relationship that ended in November, went online seven months ago to improve her screening process because she finds the pool of XY chromosomes overwhelming.
“I’m very conservative and old-school,” she says. “I have a very strict screening process. And you never know what you are going to get.”
Amen.
THE LOOKER
Brianna Seagraves
Lives in: Harlem
Occupation: model/actress
Dating site: okcupid.com
Measurements: 32B-24-36
“People think I have a line of men to date me, and that’s not the case,” says Seagraves, 30, who’s had a walk-on role on “Boardwalk Empire” and has been on city billboards for cellphone-case ads.
“A lot of times in New York, men like to look at me, they love to stare at me, but they will not say anything to me. It’s almost like you are passing by a window front or museum. You admire it and keep moving.”
Tired of being adored from afar, the Harlem resident followed her friends and went online a year and a half ago.
Men feel more comfortable approaching her online, and, counterintuitively, it’s even a little old-fashioned, as men often lead the way.
“It’s easier to say, ‘Hi, how are you?’ Even though online dating is 21st-century, I still feel like the traditional roles come into play,” she says.
The beauty doesn’t want to settle down anytime soon and is online for casual dates only.
And even though she’s 6 feet tall, she’s not picky about size. “The last person I dated was 5-foot-8, so it’s not, like, an issue for me,” she says.
THE PLAYER HATER
Aysha Mirza
Lives in: Midtown
Occupation: model
Dating site: howaboutwe.com
Measurements: 32A-23-34
For Mirza, it’s all about the follow-up.
“In the fashion, entertainment industry and nightclubs, there are always amazing-looking men,” she says.
“But most aren’t looking for more than a one-night stand. I’m more traditional. I appreciate the gesture of directly asking, ‘Can I take you for dinner sometime?’ and then following up with a phone call to actually talk and set up a time,” says the 22-year-old, adding, “Men in this city don’t know how to ask girls out on an official date or make a commitment.”
And forget about male models and actors.
The pre-med student and adjunct professor, who skipped a few grades growing up and, as a late bloomer, went from an ugly duckling to a swan, says she’s “a bit well-educated.”
“So I’m awfully turned off if someone is dumb, no matter how good-looking they are,” she says.
The exotic beauty wants to settle down and have “blue-eyed-supermodel, Olympian-athlete evil-genius babies one day,” she says with a big smile.
<a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/photos_hot_models_looking_for_nyc_luU34WOo7ZFBAIQvufsZzO” target=’_BLANK’>
Photographer: Anne Wermiel/NY Post
Hair: Damian Monzillo/BA-Reps
Makeup: Sophie Haig/BA-Reps
Stylist: Julie Brooke Williams/BA-Reps