Love has hit a brick wall in Williamsburg, where the viral matchmaking Love Wall dissolved on Friday after a summer of meet-cute encounters.
Part of a collaboration project between Pique Dating, a dating app operated by co-founders Vaishnavi Sesetty and Cyrus Belsoi, and local photographer Bob Greco, both parties ended the project citing workplace differences.
“This whole ending is such a surprise to me because it was so positive,” said Jaclyn Joan Kullberg-Cummins, Greco’s girlfriend and a local artist who helped with the collaboration. “The energy was amazing.”
The Love Wall started when Sestty and Belsoi saw Greco taking portrait photos of passersby in front of a brick wall opposite the tennis courts in McCarren Park.
“We really appreciated Bob's work, and we ended up approaching him just to see if he would be willing to collaborate,” said Sesetty, who said the Love Wall debuted on July 20.
From 12:00pm to 8:00pm on the weekend, local singles would line up to get their portrait taken by Greco, who were asked to make a sliding scale donation between $25 and $60. Each person would receive a card to write down what they were looking for in a partner, and sign a consent form to get personalized matches from the Pique team via email.
“I thought I would maybe shoot 30 or 40 portraits within the entire weekend. On average, I was shooting 120 individual portraits,” Greco said.
The match-making wall quickly gained traction and became so popular, media outlets such as Time Out and the New York Post reported on the venture.
Then on Friday, Greco got a text from Pique: he was told he had a “lack of professionalism” and their venture was over.
Gripes by Sestty and Belsoi included that Greco was late showing up to events, unkind to the pair and disrupted media coverage, according to Kullberg-Cummings.
Shortly thereafter, Sesetty and Belsoi emailed a press release to those participating in their matchmaking service, thanking them and that they would “be hitting pause" due to “unforeseen circumstances with our photographer.”
Greco said he was surprised by Pique’s characterization and the sudden demise of the Love Wall.
“To be called unprofessional because you don't know how the operation works and you also refuse to try to be professional and sit down and have meetings. It just kind of washes out for me,” said Greco, who recalled only having one meeting with Pique after their first weekend.
The photographer also said that Pique may have been upset after some participants were not correctly advised on how to donate, and would give $1 or $2 instead of the recommended minimum fee.
“This is never about the money… I never want to have to feel like I'm chasing people to donate for the cause,” he added.
Belsoi and Sesetty declined to comment on the matter and told BK Reader that the trio had a “difference in direction.”
Pique said it still plans on continuing their pop-up dating events and partnering with local businesses and artists.
“This is the beginning of so much more to come,” Sesetty said.
As for Greco, he was back to taking portraits of locals over the weekend. He simply calls it “The Red Brick Square” and posts the portraits he takes up on the wall.
“We're going to continue doing what we've been doing here at the park with the Red Brick Square and continuing to be an invitation for artists to come find what they're passionate about,” he said.
