Does Raya Work in New York City?

Yes. Raya works in New York City, and New York is one of the places where it is busiest. PureWow reports a high concentration of Raya members in New York and Los Angeles. Raya's App Store listing says members can discover people nearby or across the world through Daily Recommendations, Maps and Directory. The catch is that membership is by application only, and it is an iPhone app, so working in your city only helps once you are accepted.

PureWow's report that members cluster in New York and Los Angeles is the best evidence you have, and it points the right way for a man who lives in either city.

The reason matters more than the report. A dating app is worth what its local pool is worth. A large crowd of members in your city means more women to see, more chances that one of them lives a train ride away, and less time spent hunting for anyone nearby.

a dating coach makes a broader version of this point. In a city like New York, Chicago, LA or London there are so many women that you can get a lot of practice and a lot of experiences, and find the ones who suit you. A big city is an advantage, whatever app you use.

Raya's App Store listing names three tools for finding members: Daily Recommendations, Maps and Directory. The listing says you can use them to discover people nearby or across the world.

In New York, the nearby setting is the one worth using. Daily Recommendations give you suggestions to look at. Maps shows where members are, and Global Dating Insights reports that Raya has an interactive map members use to locate one another. Directory is there for when you want to browse on your own.

Between them, the three let you choose how to look: by what the app suggests, by where people are, or by browsing.

Raya is an iPhone app, and membership is by application only.

So a New York man on Android has a different problem from a New York man on an iPhone. Check which phone you use before you spend any time on an application. If you are on an iPhone, nothing stops you applying.

Being in a city full of members does not get you in. Nobody outside Raya can tell you how a decision gets made for a particular man, and a crowded city does not change that.

What you can do is apply once and stop checking. While you wait, run the other dating apps hard. My point is that steady effort adds up. He talks about men who get excellent results from half an hour a day, working the numbers sensibly. He also says to be on several apps, because different ones suit different men and different cities.

In New York that is easy. You can meet a woman from any app in a few stops, and a drink after work is a normal first date.

A busy city changes how a man should behave on any app, and Raya is no exception. When a woman has plenty of choices within a few stops, a slow or vague conversation loses to a faster one.

a dating coach's rule is that the point of app messaging is to get off the app and onto a date. In New York that is easy to act on, because a woman can reach most places by train. Suggest a specific day and a specific neighborhood, and the conversation moves forward instead of drifting.

A member in New York should treat Raya like any app that is full of choices. Answer women the day they write. Keep your messages short, and mention something real from her page. When she is clearly enjoying it, suggest a time and a place and move the conversation to text, because the aim of messaging is to get you off the app and onto a date.

Pick a place that is easy for her to reach. In a city this big, the man who makes the plan simple is the man who gets the yes.