Subway Dating Service Launches

A new website has launched in which one enters his or her NYC subway commute details and searches for possible hook-ups among nearby riders with similar routes. It's an underground Grindr, of sorts.

"Every day, before and after your commute, you're surrounded by people," said the site's developer, Paris-based programmer Laurent Kretz. "Among them, there might be a bass player for your band -- or a cute girl you could date." Kretz first thought of the idea when he asked a woman he routinely saw at an East Village subway station if she could help him with his Spanish. "I was living in the East Village, working on 57th and Seventh," he said. "Sometimes, after work, we met around the station at the Starbucks at Cooper Square. It lasted a couple of months." The site kicked off two days ago and already has users searching for friends or romantic connections on the subway. Once you make a profile -- similar to what you'd create on Facebook -- the site will allow you to view the profiles of other people along the commute and send them messages.

The site's operator has created similar sites for London and Paris. He plans to expand to numerous cities and countries.