Sophia moved to New York from Ohio three years ago for a job in publishing. She had dreamed about the city since she was a teenager, and in many ways it lived up to every promise. She learned the subway lines, found a favourite bench in Washington Square Park and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on her first Sunday. What she had not expected was how many evenings she would spend alone. Her colleagues were friendly but went home to partners and long commutes. Her university friends were scattered across four states. She had a city of eight million people outside her window and nobody to call for a walk.
Daniel’s story was different but rhymed with hers. He was born in Queens, grew up in Astoria and had never lived anywhere else. For most of his life, he had never thought about making friends. They were simply there, from school, from the basketball courts, from the block. Then, over a few years, they moved: one to New Jersey, one to Philadelphia, two to the suburbs once their children arrived. At thirty-four, Daniel had a good job, a close family and Saturday mornings with nothing in them.
Sophia and Daniel have never met, and probably never will. But they represent a great many grown-ups in this city who would like a few more good friends and are not sure where to start. That is who TruFriend is for, and from today, Friday 23 October, TruFriend is open in New York.
What TruFriend is
TruFriend is a platform for friendship only. It is not a dating app, and it is not a place for business networking or selling. It is for grown-ups aged 18 and over who would like to meet people with shared interests and build real friendships through regular meetings in small groups.
New York opens today alongside London, and joins Dubai, Riyadh, Kuwait City and Cairo, where TruFriend is already open. In each city the idea is the same: help people who share interests and live near each other find each other, then make it easy for them to meet in person, again and again, until acquaintances become friends.
We built TruFriend because the way most of us made friends when we were younger stops working once school and university are over. Back then, we saw the same people every day without trying. Grown-up life rarely gives us that. Work, family, long commutes and the sheer pace of a city like New York all get in the way. TruFriend tries to give some of that structure back.
Being clear that TruFriend is for friendship only matters to us, and we think it matters to our members too. Nobody joins wondering what the other person is really looking for. Everyone is there for the same reason: to find a few good people to walk with, talk with and share the small news of the week with.
How circles work
Everything on TruFriend starts with circles. A circle is an interest that a group of people share: Coffee and conversation, Walkers and runners, Book lovers, Food explorers, Art and culture and many others. There is also a New in New York circle for people who have recently arrived, whether from another state or from the other side of the world, and who would like to meet others in the same position.
When you join, you choose the circles that fit you. Tru, our assistant, then learns a little more about what you enjoy, roughly where you live and when you are usually free. In New York, that last part matters a great deal. A friendship between someone in the Bronx and someone in Staten Island is possible, but it is much easier to meet regularly with people a short subway ride away. That is why members are grouped by area, from Lower Manhattan, Midtown & Upper Manhattan and Brooklyn to Queens, The Bronx and Staten Island. Tru takes distance seriously.
Tru then introduces you to a few compatible people nearby, with the reasons you might get along. You might share a love of early walks in Prospect Park, both be new to Upper Manhattan, or both be looking for a regular café table and a good conversation on Thursday evenings. A conversation only opens when both of you say yes. Nobody can message you out of nowhere.
Small group plans in public places
TruFriend is built around small groups rather than one-to-one meetings. Plans bring together three to ten people, which we believe is the right size for friendship. It is small enough that everyone talks and quieter people are noticed, and large enough that a first meeting never feels like an interview.
Every plan happens in a well-known public place. In New York, that might be a morning loop of Central Park, a stroll along the High Line, an afternoon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a browse through the Union Square Greenmarket or a walk along the Hudson River Greenway as the light fades. Plans happen in the daytime and early evening, in open, busy settings where everyone feels at ease.
The real magic is repetition. A single plan is pleasant. The same small group meeting every week or every month is how friendship actually forms. TruFriend is designed to make it easy to meet the same faces again, so that a Saturday walk can become a standing tradition.
What a first plan might look like
Imagine someone like Sophia joining the Walkers and runners circle. Over her first week, Tru introduces her to a few people in Lower Manhattan who enjoy an early walk and are usually free on Saturday mornings. Two of them say yes to a conversation, and soon a small plan takes shape: six people, a walk along the Hudson River Greenway from Battery Park, then coffee on a bench by the water.
Nobody has to be brilliant or charming. The walk gives everyone something to do, the river and the boats give everyone something to talk about, and the coffee afterwards gives the conversation room to go a little deeper. At the end, someone suggests doing it again in two weeks. That suggestion is the real beginning. The first plan is an introduction. The second and third are where friendship starts.
Or imagine Daniel in the Coffee and conversation circle, meeting four people from Queens at a busy café near Astoria Park on a Thursday evening. They talk about work, basketball, the books they keep meaning to read and the best food in the neighbourhood. One of them arrived from Lagos a month ago and asks for advice about everything. By the end of the evening, Daniel has a reason to look forward to next Thursday, which is more than he had a month ago.
Safety and respect
Meeting new people should feel comfortable, and we have built TruFriend with that in mind from the start. Every member is a grown-up aged 18 or over. Profile photos must be real photos of the member, and they are reviewed. Plans happen only in public places, never at someone’s home. A conversation only opens when both people agree to it.
If anyone behaves in a way that makes you uncomfortable, you can report and block them, and we take every report seriously. Anyone who tries to use TruFriend for dating, selling or anything else that is not friendship is not welcome. We also encourage the same common sense you would use anywhere: tell someone where you are going, make your own way there and back so you can leave whenever you wish, and never share money or sensitive personal details with someone you have only just met. In an emergency, call 911.
How to join
TruFriend starts by invitation. We open places gradually in each city so that circles grow at a healthy pace and early members find people to meet rather than an empty app. When you request an invite, we will send you a personal invitation as places open in your area. Members pay nothing to join. If you already have a friend on TruFriend, they may be able to invite you, and many of our best groups in other cities started exactly that way.
What we hope for New York
New York has always been a city of strangers who become neighbours. Its parks, libraries, museums and markets have brought people together for generations. We do not want to replace any of that. We want to help more people find their way to it, especially those who have just arrived, those whose friends have moved away and those who simply want a few more good people in their lives.
We imagine a Saturday walking group in Central Park that started as strangers, a Thursday café table in Brooklyn that has not missed a week in a year, and a group of newcomers in Queens who now help the next arrivals settle in. If you would like to meet people who share your interests in New York, request an invite and we will send you a personal invitation.
Don’t just read about it
Join a circle of people in New York who enjoy the same things. Members already on TruFriend can join from the app or suggest a plan in any chat.
New in New YorkA friendship circle for grown-ups (18+) who have recently moved to New York: settle in, explore the city and build a social life with others doing the same.
Coffee & conversationA friendship circle for people who enjoy cafés and unhurried conversation in New York. Low-pressure first meetings in small groups, close to home.
Walkers & runnersA friendship circle for people who like long walks, early runs and park and waterfront paths in New York. Find regular company at your own pace.