New app aims to help NYC neighbors build friendships

Making a friend in your building can be hard, but a new app is helping New Yorkers befriend their neighbors.

"No one knows our neighbors in NY I live here for more than 10 years and I never meet a single neighbor," Says Selin Sonmez, Co-Founder and CEO of OneRoof.

Sonmez and Nikos Georgantas created the app OneRoof. The concept, to have virtual communities within apartment buildings. They came up with it while in quarantine. 

"In the summer of 2020 we felt very isolated and trapped in our four walls of our NYC apartment, we realized we are not the only ones, there are other neighbors in our building that feel similar way so we wanted to connect with them," said Sonmez.

Since its launch 6 months ago, one roof has over 2,000 users in more than 40 buildings across the city. The app is most popular in Williamsburg, Green point, Midtown and the Financial District.

The app does not only allow you to create new friendships, but it is also a marketplace where neighbors can sell things to each other. OneRoof is free to download.