The action is just getting started at Gossip Bar in Hell’s Kitchen as 23-year-old Brooke Ozeri sidles up to the bar. She brushes back a lock of long black hair, adjusting her lacy white top as she scans the room. There’s an undeniable nervous energy to her demeanor; she’s hoping to find The One.
The One who will hopefully pay the rent on time, keep the music down and not bring home any questionable men.
Ozeri is at Speed Roommating, a bimonthly event that takes the meet-and-greet concept of speed dating and applies it to finding a roommate. Instead of needy singletons using cocktails as a weapon of seduction, desperate roommate hunters brandish gadgets showing off photos of their apartments in an attempt to woo would-be roommates.
“I have a harder time finding roommates, because sometimes [as a woman] you don’t want to live with a guy,” explains Ozeri, an aspiring dancer and DJ who recently moved to the Big Apple from Stamford, Conn., after breaking up with her boyfriend.
“With girls, there are jealousy and insecurities. Even if they’re the nicest person, they’re still going to be catty.”
Twice a month, Gothamites gather on the second floor of this Theater District tavern and don color-coded name tags indicating whether they’re looking for a room (pink tag) or a roommate (white tag), along with their price range and desired neighborhoods.
Matt Hutchinson, the director of SpareRoom.com — the room-share service that runs the Speed Roommating events, which launched in New York City in January — sees the mixers as a way to give candidates a better sense of each others’ personalities. “Rents are expensive, and [apartments] go quickly,” says the 40-year-old Londoner. “It’s almost a full-time job to find where to live.” (The next event is tomorrow; see speedroommating.com for details.)
Speed Roommating can be a less stressful — and safer — alternative to seeking roommates online, where you could wind up interviewing someone who looks like they belong in Rikers Island instead of your spacious SoHo loft.
Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, resident Myles Pimental found himself in such a situation three months ago, when he was contacted via a mutual Facebook friend about a $500-per-month rental in the Financial District. “I thought, ‘That sounds too good to be true,’ ” says Pimental, a 22-year-old model.
Sure enough, it was.
“He just wanted someone [hot] who would be desperate enough to share the same bed . . . and maybe do sexual favors in return for an extremely cheap apartment,” says Pimental.
Although exact numbers are hard to determine — not everyone tells SpareRoom.com if they’ve had luck at the events — Hutchinson estimates the success rate at Speed Roommating events is about 25 percent.
Upper West Sider Matt Schwartz is using the event as an opportunity to talk to multiple prospective roomies at once.
“I’ve already met five times the amount of people I would have met on Craigslist,” says the 25-year-old, who works in operations at an investment bank.
“And it’s easier this way . . . you can talk to people.”
Clutching an iPad, he swipes the sleek tablet to show off the amenities of his sunny 15th-floor apartment, complete with surround sound and roof access, at the sum of $1,550 a month.
“I used to work in real estate, so I know what I’m doing!” he says.
Despite its noble aims, the event occasionally still feels like a rowdy meat market. As a young woman saunters by, Schwartz scans her top to get a glimpse of her name tag — and see if her price range and neighborhood could be a potential match.
“I feel weird looking at women’s chests, like, hey, how much do you cost?” Schwartz concedes.
“It’s just like dating,” agrees 42-year-old Michael Bryan, who’s seeking a roommate for his $1,000-per-month 21st-floor Forest Hills apartment with sweeping views of Queens.
“You get some of the desperation we’re all feeling right now.”
He left without finding the right match, but it didn’t faze his good-natured attitude. “Everything always works out,” he says.
Others, like Ozeri, hit it off immediately.
“She’s so awesome,” Ozeri says of her newfound roommate, 25-year-old intern Jihane Naji, who has an extra room available in her Times Square apartment. They clink glasses and toast their budding friendship.
“Cheers,” says Naji.
“I love her!” adds Ozeri, proving that — just like with finding a soul mate — all you need in the perfect roommate is chemistry.