"It's harder to meet people now. When I came to New York, I was a struggling artist and it was easy to get into a gallery show or a theater show for free. Now, the focus is more on the Wall Street people." — 39-yr-old Brooklyn woman who works in music industry

"I think it's pretty easy to meet people in New York City. I'm outgoing, and I consider myself good-looking, plus I'm very fashion conscious. When you put those things together, it's usually easy." — 24-year-old gay student and makeup artist

"It's harder to meet people now because everyone seems to be taken, especially at my age." — 40-year-old, unemployed Queens woman

"It's really easy to meet people in New York, but it's hard to start a relationship. New York has a lot of attractive people, which makes it hard to focus on one person." 26-year-old Upper East Side marketing coordinator

"It's gotten harder to make relationships work as I get older. I'm less tolerant now of, how can I put this gently, high-maintenance women, which New York seems to have so many of." 36-year-old Upper East Side attorney

"I think it's become easier to meet people in New York in the past five years, especially with the online options. . I've used JDate, and I would use it again. You put your picture on the site and write a little about yourself--it's hard to tell what people are like from this, so sometimes you can be disappointed, but at least it puts you in touch with more people " — 27-year-old Brooklyn man, works in advertising

"There are so many small, tight circles of friends in this giant city, and very often you end up dating the people only in your circle. It becomes incestuous." — 7th grade teacher, 27, Inwood

"I meet guys most often on the dance floor. I won't say where - it could get too competitive!" — 29-year-old woman with a PhD in musicology