As the 100-year anniversary of the Titanic comes to end tonight, millions of people reflected on one of history's greatest mysteries today in more ways than one. More >>

Lauren Fleishman

After freelance photographer Lauren Fleishman's grandfather died, she found a book next to his bed containing love letters written to her grandmother. "That inspired me to start seeking out couples that have been married for over 50 years," she told Runnin' Scared on the phone today. Fleishman has been working on the project for three years, and is now seeking funds on Kickstarter to help her photograph more couples and turn her work into a book. We admit we have been cynical about the current onslaught of love-themed media, but we are smitten with these stories of long-lasting New York-area romance.

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via

Valentine's Day might have lost the allure of romance (or, rather, sex) for some people, but there is still some hope in the city. We checked in with site HowAboutWe -- which encourages the lovelorn to post ideas for dates -- and were told that New York postings have been steadily rising since January 13. That's when, as HowAboutWe.com media director Erin Scottberg said, holiday malaise has run its course, those "why are you still single?" questions are still on the brain, and Valentine's Day hype starts getting going. Last year, according to Scottberg, there was an increase in the number of dates posted through Feb. 14 (the big day). That then leveled out until the beginning of March when people started to embark on finding springtime beaus. But what have New Yorkers been wanting to do on their posted dates recently? Go tour a sewage plant? Not exactly, but let's just say that New Yorkers have been looking for something more than just a pleasant time with another person.

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Because love is at least nominally in the air (Valentine's Day is Tuesday), the Internet has brought you a new tool to discover your digital crushes. Twit Amore is an app that allows you find out who you or someone you like to stalk loves on Twitter by simply entering a user's handle. According to the site's "about" page it can reveal these "romantic" (note my use of scare quotes) interests by "using the Twitter API, it looks up who you follow, your timeline and your favourite tweets." We decided look up the loves of a few notable New Yorkers, and didn't find anything too incriminating. [h/t]

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On Monday and Tuesday an event went down in the Flatiron Pedestrian Plaza that involved a number of presumably happy couples lip-locking under what is reported to be "the largest pair of mistletoe in the world" measuring 10 feet tall, each with a 2-foot-wide "ball" of mistletoe. No one got hurt! 8,327 [correction: 16,654] people were enticed to kiss underneath these large green things in conjunction with FindYourFacemate.com, an online dating service that uses facial recognition software to pair people up. (Research shows that people are more likely to be attracted to others whose facial features are similar to theirs, but we'll allow you to explore that on your own, minus any relatives.)

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The sad young literary people of New York have a new outlet for their forays into online dating: literary magazine n+1's new personals site, n+1 Personals. It's everything you want it to be, and more. The ads are exquisitely, beautifully, perfectly insufferable in every way.

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Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie have been living together for 40 years. And now, an online petition demanding that Sesame Street allow Bert and Ernie to wed is circulating. As of this posting it has almost 4,500 signatures. "Let us teach tolerance of those that are different," the petition's description reads. "Let Sesame Street and PBS Kids be a big part in saving many worthy lives." Admirable intentions, but are Bert and Ernie even gay? And even if they are, why should two puppets on a kids' show get married?

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The real Casanova.

​Pro tip for single ladies: if a man introduces himself to you at a club as Geovanni Kasanova, it's a big red flag. Do not become his girlfriend. Do not let him convince you to access people's accounts at the bank where you work, making you a co-conspirator in a large-scale grand larceny and identity theft scheme. That exact situation is what two young women in the Bronx, Kia Wylie and Malika Williams, are accused of having been a part of.

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By way of Ephemeral New York comes these wonderful vintage missed connections from a city guidebook called Lights and Shadows of New York Life, which was published in 1872. Yep, way back in 1872, New Yorkers were catching each others' eyes on streetcars or across the avenues, and forming that mysterious, inexplicable emotion we call desire. It's not as if that started with the Internet, right? Anyway, these are so great.

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via Katie Sokoler/Gothamist

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These selfless canines braved the crappy weather yesterday to please their weirdo owners who had entered them in a costume contest on Coney Island. This little guy is the Phantom of the Opera.

[Gothamist]

[@_rosiegray]