Puzzling NYC article: LifestyleI'll have what she's having! How dating in New York has changed since ...

NYC

BY Nicole Lyn Pesce

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Sunday, January 3rd 2010, 4:00 AM

It’s been two decades since iconic rom-com “When Harry Met Sally” hit theaters, and the titular characters’ NYC dating scene has gone through many changes.

In the now-legendary love story, Billy Crystal’s Harry and Meg Ryan’s Sally first meet as new college grads carpooling to the city together. The flick follows their blossoming relationship over the course of a decade before they finally get together with a New Year’s kiss that’s as satisfying today as when the movie debuted in 1989.

Late-’80s dating traditions, like physically writing down your number for a guy or getting to know each other over dinner, are moves that Deborah Hurwitz, 41, can recognize. The composer, conductor and “Jersey Boys” performer arrived in ’89 herself, as a fresh-faced Princeton grad with a dream of breaking into the music business.

“Not everyone had a cell, by any means,” she recalls. “They were still like big, giant satellite phones that you had to carry around in a briefcase.

“People actually wrote down their phone numbers! And if you lost it, you were screwed, and that was it.”

In fact, she used to judge a gentleman by his writing materials.

“A business card was classier than a napkin,” she chuckles. “Or sometimes, he’d have you actually write it on his hand. That was a cute move!”

But 2009 newcomer Katelyn Glass, 23, has never written down her digits. The marketing major now employed at a cosmetics company typically punches her number into a potential mate’s mobile.

“You save people in your phone,” says Glass, who graduated this year from American University in Washington, D.C., and now lives in Stuyvesant Town. “Then you look him up on Facebook.”

Both generations can agree that meeting men is easier in bars, where a cozy setting and alcohol help break the ice.

“It’s not ever like I’m out walking and randomly meet a guy,” says Glass. “To be honest, the only way I really meet people in 2009 is, either I’m three drinks deep at a bar or it’s my friends trying to set me up.”

Agrees Hurwitz, “I met people through school friends, and we would all meet to go see a show, and afterward we’d stay for food and drinks.”

She recalls getting into clubs like Duplex or venues like The Bitter End for less than $5 and shelling out maybe $8 for an expensive cocktail.

“I remember the first time drinks in nice places came into double-digits, and I was like, wow, $12 for a glass of wine? That’s really, really expensive!” she says.