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One Saturday night last winter, Troy Danka stood on a Manhattan street corner with no date, no prospects and no way to get downtown.
But things looked up when a yellow cab rolled to a stop in front of him. Shortly after Mr. Danka slid into the back seat, the driver, Ahmed Ibrahim, told him about a unique service he offers to single passengers: Mr. Ibrahim sets them up with blind dates.
Mr. Danka gave it a moment's thought and figured he had nothing to lose. "I tried online dating," he says. "Why not this?"
So as the taxi cruised down Park Avenue, Mr. Ibrahim, a 50-year-old Egyptian immigrant, pulled out a small digital recorder and pointed it at Mr. Danka through the bulletproof partition. "Say hello to the girls," Mr. Ibrahim said, before recording a brief interview with Mr. Danka about his age (26), occupation (technology consultant) and whether he is "a player" ("no").
With that, Mr. Danka joined what may be New York City's most exclusive dating service. The only way to get in? You have to ride in Mr. Ibrahim's cab.
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