I put ‘looking for a girlfriend’ flyers across New York and IT PAID OFF

Imagine your Tinder bio, but like, on paper, and posted to every mailbox, lamppost, and vacant wall in The Village.

Over the past 14 months, Daniel Perino, the 52-year-old serial dating celebrity of Manhattan, has covered the dynamic city with his headshot and phone number in the hopes of finding his soulmate.

Except recently, you might have seen a slightly different flyer. Now, once-lascivious  Perino is “Looking for a Friend”.

We recently came across Dan’s new flyer, and landed a date interview with him.

Fun fact: Dan took classes at NYU. This could be you in 30 years.

What happened which led to you putting up these flyers?

Well, I’m an artist. I was painting this woman’s house.  I’m very fast, like Picasso, strong movements and when I saw her again, and she’s beautiful, I said, “This might sound awkward…” So, she knew right away that I was going to ask her to go out. And she got really angry at me.

I hadn’t had a relationship in about two years. I was celibate for two years. So, I called my friend, disgusted.

We took my picture and we made up the flyer, all in a few hours. I put up 500 flyers the day after she rejected me.

I wasn’t expecting anything. I didn’t really think it would work.

Then, I got over 100 calls. I got a hook-up out of the deal.

At about 4pm, CBS calls and asks for an interview. Then, the next day, BBC and AM New York wanted to do interviews.

Then the next day, the tabloids came out with their own boggled up stories and angles.

In nine weeks I had gotten around 7,100 calls, mostly ending in hook-ups. Everything was going fine. Back then I was getting a lot of hook-ups. A LOT. A lot of hook-ups.

So, when you say hook-ups…

Sex. I had 174 hook-ups.

How long have you been doing this?

14 months.

How many flyers do you put out in a day?

500.

Do you find your flyers get taken down often and you have to replace them or are you just exploring new areas?

There’s all kinds of street regulations which take them down. If I put up 500 and 250 stay up, I’m doing good. Then I’ll get 3,000 hits on my website a night.

Do you remember the first call?

A transvestite. I could tell by his…by her voice. It was by the fifth flyer I put up. I guess he didn’t know that. So persistent.

And at that point I didn’t think it was going to work.  People would think I’m a joke.

But, I was persistent, too. There was a guy with HIV who came to me for advice. I told him to just be honest with it. Be honest and put out a flyer. He actually called me to thank me, because he found a girl.

Were you going on these dates expecting this, or were women coming to you just with the intention of sex?

I had a lot of women coming to me for the fame.

Like groupies?

Yeah, like a rock star…legend…celebrity. It wasn’t like a celebrity until about six months ago.

I did a lot of interviews overseas which helped a lot. I did Bangkok last night, I’ve done Italy, a lot in Africa, the UK, Mexico. Then I got a lot of likes on Facebook.

Now, there are three documentaries about me. A lot of people were seeing my picture, the one on my shirt right now.

What was your worst date?

I was on this date with this Latino girl in the East Village.  I met with her and she brought a friend, a chaperone.

I didn’t know, because I never saw her, I didn’t know who I was dating – the chaperone or the girl.

We order our food and we’re done and the chaperone asks me if I have money. I say, “Yeah, I have money.”

She calls the waitress over and orders three more meals. Then, the check comes. Six meals. Three there and three to-go.

I said: “You fuckin’ serious? You gotta be kiddin’ me. You’re making me pay for a chaperone and two total strangers. Do some fuckin’ dishes.”

I was so pissed off – the most pissed off I’ve ever been – and I walked out. They didn’t have any money with them.

I’ve had everything. Once while I was putting up flyers, a girl walked past me and groped me. Just groped me.

I was taken back by it, and then she said to me “I just wanted to see if the VICE article [where Dan says he has a “coke can dick, seven-inch, huge”] was true.”

Then she smiled and walked away. I had a woman, I was putting up flyers, and she just started grabbing me. She said, “I just wanted to touch you.”

When you did you get too tired of dating, when you decided to change your tactic and look for just a friend?

August 16th. I got sick of dating total strangers. I got sick of hook-ups.

What do you think about college students and how we seek love?

Yeah, I don’t think you guys really have dating-kind-of-relationships anymore. It’s all just hook-ups. Or if they find something better, they just break up with whoever.

Men don’t show affection. They aren’t trained for it. Women need to show affection. And with lovemaking, no one makes it fun anymore.

When I was younger, I used to be the same way, but you have to make sex fun. And then just really wanna have sex and roll over. But, you know you should hang out for a half hour or something… or go to a movie and hold each other…

Netflix and chill?

Yeah! Something like that, showing affection. Public affection. Although I would say the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing is private…but, I made it unprivate.

Do you believe there’s one person out there for you? A soulmate?

Yeah. I’m thinking of making this a worldwide search. I know this Italian woman on Instagram. She wants me to come over. But, she’s too old for me. She’s in her 50s. She couldn’t have children.

And now, all the girls from high school or girls who have turned me down in the past, especially from high school, they ask me out over Facebook. I tell them they’re too old for me. Because, they’re my age.

What’s the closest you’ve gotten to finding love in this search?

I see this girl, but the problem with her is that she wakes up in the morning and drinks. She’s beautiful, and she’s a computer genius. But, she starts drinking and continues until she passes out. So, you gotta catch her in the morning.