In the city so nice they named it twice, this outsider struggled to find a pal while walking the mean streets.
With plans to relocate from his home city of London to Brooklyn in spring 2024, Lee Thompson, 41, politely asked the Big Apple: “Will You Be My Friend?” in bold letters written on a piece of cardboard.
And, to little shock, most of Gotham responded with a resounding, “No!.”
“What the hell is wrong with you?,” spat a sassy blond in Grand Central Station, where Thompson, a married father of one, kicked off his 36-hour hunt for companionship in the concrete jungle.
“I don’t want to be your friend,” added the anti-socialite, rejecting the dejected Brit’s request for connection.
Thompson chronicled his citywide search, virally sharing footage of himself handing out “friend résumés” — flyers denoting the benefits of being his buddy, made complete with references from his wife, Radha — and holding up his handmade sign in train stations, on the subway, on street corners and in iconic city parks. The video of his rough go scored over 150,000 Instagram views.
And while he ultimately managed to bond with a literal handful of potential pals in a city of an estimated 8.5 million dwellers, Thompson — the founder of Flashpack, a virtual hub for solo world travelers — said seeking warm acceptance in NYC was initially a hellish endeavor.
“I came to New York with a preconceived idea that it was going to be very challenging to engage with random New Yorkers on the street,” Thompson told The Post. “I mean, New York has a bit of a reputation — if you Google ‘unfriendly cities,’ it’ll often come up as the top.”
Unsurprisingly, residents of the great melting pot lived up to Thompson’s low expectations.
“One woman on the subway told me that my request for friendship was ‘genuinely off-putting,’ and another shouted at me at Grand Central,” he said. “Some people not only ignored me, but pretended to listen to music and quite literally ran away.”
When he tried his luck at a comedy show, taking the stage as “the loneliest man in New York City,” to proposition the audience for acquaintanceship, Thompson was met with awkward silence from the crowd of chuckleheads.
The Londoner received equally frosty responses from straphangers on the 4, 5, and 6 train lines.
However, despite the repeat snubbings, the outcast eventually struck gold in Washington Square Park, attracting a wave of would-be buds.
“I wanna be your friend,” yelled a man who introduced himself as Austin, per video of Thompson’s feat.
“Alright, let’s see this resume,” said a separate brunette, inviting Thompson to woo her with his platonic perks.
He even connected with a woman who unguardedly opened up about the woes of her fertility journey.
“[She] was deeply vulnerable within seconds of meeting which was so powerful,” Thompson told The Post of the heartwarming encounter. “She was on her way to an IVF appointment and we had an amazing conversation about our own children and even shared contact information with each other.”
Feeling confident in his budding buddy-ships, Thompson invited his collection of comrades out for a drink.
And to his surprise, five folks showed up to paint the town red.
“I went into the experiment not knowing if anybody would be my friend,” he said. ” And to have New Yorkers show up for a fun night out and stay in touch afterward — it proves people truly want connection.”
The ex-loner and his newfound crew hit a bar before stumbling upon a karaoke lounge, where they belted out chart-toppers until the wee hours of the morning.
Kristyn Pearl, a member of Thompson’s motley musketeers, said she, too, grapples with the pangs of loneliness in the ever-buzzy metropolis.
“At 34, many people have established careers and or families, making their schedules extremely busy and leaving limited time for socializing,” Pearl lamented to SWNS. “NYC can feel like the loneliest place if a Friday night comes along and you don’t have anyone hitting you up to do something, while the entire city is swarming with people and fun things to do.”
“With Lee’s vulnerable friendship request,” added Pearl, “it felt like I would be accepted either way and didn’t have to audition for a part.”
Since finding friendship in the city, Thompson’s perception of knickerbockers has totally changed for the better.
“I was so shocked by the New Yorkers who did respond to my friendship request,” he confessed to The Post.
“From strangers who approached me with a hug or with an intro to their dog as I stood with the sign in a park, to the gig-goers who applauded me onstage and even a group of commuters who got chatting with me on the subway,” continued Thompson. “I was greeted with genuine friendliness across the city.”
“What I’ve come to realize is that New Yorkers are hyper-focused and direct,” he said. ‘But, that doesn’t mean they’re cold-hearted.”
And Thompson isn’t the only lonely soul who’s come up with a creative way to seek out a mate in the city.
Gen Z and millennial newbies to NYC have turned to apps like Bumble for Friends and other online forums in an effort to sniff out a solid circle.
And in September, model Karolina Geits, 29, fearlessly hit the pavement with a “Looking for a husband” sign, waving it around while strolling through SoHo in hopes of scoring a sidewalk meet-cute.
“I believe that if I make an actual sign for anything I want — a husband, a Birkin, Chanel,” Geits told The Post, “the universe will see it and send me exactly what I want.”