Next-Door Neighbors Find Love In A Chelsea Apartment Building

CHELSEA, NY — There wasn't much to write home about after Lindsay Gilder and Zach Dribbon first bumped into each other in the elevator of their Chelsea apartment building in 2015.

"I was distracted, I don’t think I really thought much of it," Gilder, now 28, recalled. "Then, all of a sudden, we were getting off at the same floor."

Dribbon was new to the building — Chelsea Centro, a rental complex on West 26th Street —having just moved in with a friend, while Gilder had moved in with her own roommate about a year earlier. Realizing they were next-door neighbors, Dribbon asked for Gilder's number, explaining that he was planning to have friends over later that week.

"I was like, hey, if it’s loud or something, just text me or knock on the door," Dribbon, now 31, said. "And you’re welcome to come over, too."

She didn't. For about a year after they exchanged numbers, Gilder politely declined Dribbon's frequent invitations to join in the revelries of her two young, single neighbors.

"I think they went out more than I did my senior year of college," Gilder recalled of Dribbon and his roommate. "I remember my roommate and I thinking, who did we just move next to? This is crazy."

"That's a terrible idea"

In the spring of 2016, the two had another chance run-in near the building's entrance, as Gilder was walking home and Dribbon was heading to a nearby sports bar, alongside more than a dozen friends from college who were in town for the weekend.

"Zach stopped and we chatted for a little bit, and all of his friends kept walking," Gilder recalled. "I was like, oh wow, that’s really cool, he took the time to hang back and talk."

One of Dribbon's friends also took note of the interaction and urged him to invite Gilder on a date. Dribbon had reservations.

"I was like, well, she’s my neighbor. That’s a terrible idea, so many things could go wrong," he said. "He basically convinced me, no, it’ll be fine, you should just do it anyway."

Gilder had her own doubts about the wisdom of dating a neighbor, but her roommate convinced her the potential benefits — and convenience — outweighed any risks, and the pair agreed to go out for drinks.

Aiming to imitate a "normal" date experience, Gilder and Dribbon met in the lobby before heading to a rooftop bar across the street. They had lots to talk about, including the upcoming NBA Finals — Dribbon is a sports fan, and Gilder works as a social responsibility manager for the league itself. After a fun night out, they began walking back to the building.

"I don't usually usually don’t take girls home with me on the first date," Dribbon joked as they headed home.

After two years of dating, Dribbon and Gilder decided to move into their own place — and there was never much doubt where it would be.

"We loved the building, the staff is great, the amenities are great and obviously it just feels special to us," Gilder said. "So, ironically, we just have never left."

"The building brought us together"

Last September, Dribbon told Gilder that he and some friends planned to host a college football watch party on their building's rooftop deck. The night before the event, after initially promising to stop by, Gilder confided to Dribbon and her sister that she didn't want to attend — she was preparing to travel for work, and besides, she had other plans that day.

Gilder's sister, who knew Dribbon's real plans, told her sister that she had to go. After a heated back-and-forth, Gilder agreed. The next day, Dribbon proposed on the rooftop.

"Obviously, it was worth it in the end," Gilder said.

Staying true to the neighborhood where they met, the couple had planned to get married Aug. 29 at Pier Sixty in Chelsea Piers. When the coronavirus pandemic scuttled those plans, Gilder and Dribbon pushed the date to July 10, 2021.

More than four years into their relationship, Gilder said she's struck by the improbability of their story, which unfolded in a city where many apartment-dwellers seldom speak to their neighbors down the hall.

"I’ve never met a single person that met their neighbor before. Everyone who I tell this story to has also never met anybody that met their neighbor," Gilder said. "So I’m just really thankful that the building brought us together."

In a statement, Zoe Elghanayan, Principal and Vice President at TF Cornerstone, which owns Chelsea Centro, said the company puts "great effort in creating a safe and community driven environment for our residences, so I love hearing stories like this coming from TF Cornerstone buildings."

Now, with the pandemic leaving New Yorkers homebound for months, Gilder wondered if more love stories like hers and Dribbon's could be starting.

"Now that everyone’s home, I can totally see how if there was a cute guy down the hall, and I was a single girl and I’m living at my house with nothing to do, it might make me more inclined to see what that could be."