You’re not alone in your loneliness.

In an op-ed published earlier this month, outgoing New York City health commissioner Dr. Dave A. Chokshi declared that locals are suffering from an “epidemic of loneliness” after two years of a pandemic. He cited recent surveys that found “57 percent of residents feel lonely some of the time or often and 67 percent [feel] socially isolated.”

But, with the city opening up, some New Yorkers are finding creative ways to get out there and fight the desolation bug. Meet three.

Bonding over bread

Katie Skare was 10 years into living in New York when she finally got to live by herself. Her Inwood studio initially seemed like a blessing for the single, self-described shy introvert. But by March 2020, it was backfiring. 

“I had this wave of, ‘Oh my gosh, you are way too comfortable being alone,’” the 37-year-old administrative assistant told The Post. “You need people. You’re going to die alone.”

This past January, she came up with a bold plan: she started a TikTok account and invited strangers to go on dates with her to try to work through her list of the city’s best sandwiches. She thought she might get a handful of responses; within two days she had hundreds.

Now, every week she picks someone from her inbox — already over 500 strong — and takes them on a platonic date for a delicious sandwich, from banh mi at Hanco’s in Park Slope to a steak sub at a deli in Washington Heights. The quickness and variety of sammies available in the city are perfect for casual meet-ups.

“My whole life, I feel like I’ve been holding myself back and hiding. You end up hiding from your whole life,” Skare said. Now, she’s “legitimately making friends,” and her shyness has turned into curiosity. 

Each of her TikTok videos follow her and the date on a bouncy tour of their meeting and destination, with both getting-to-know-you and food talk. Skare has racked up more than 18,000 followers, and her life has been upended by the surprising connections she’s found: a stranger who works in her building, another who went to the same school in Minnesota.

“It takes the people who are willing to put out the hand and bridge the gap and make themselves vulnerable in that way,” she said. “I can recommend blowing up on TikTok to anyone who wants to go on a big adventure in your life.”

Books, brunch and connections

College in a pandemic was not the bustling campus life Benjamin Laufer had imagined. He dropped out during his freshman year at Minerva University in San Francisco, took a job for a venture firm and moved to New York City. But without in-person work and college social circles to fall back on, he felt lost. 

“Especially in the city, people live very atomized experiences,” the 22-year-old Bushwick resident said. He put out a call on Twitter: “Why are there so few ‘acceptable’ platonic first get-togethers?” The responses generated an idea that became an event in February: a book crawl. About 15 strangers from Twitter met at Blank Street coffee shop in Williamsburg, got to know each other and then headed to McNally Jackson to buy a book for a person they just met.

Discussing a book “creates this very clear next step for people, which is often a difficult thing,” he said. 

That spawned a Curiosity Brunch at an East Village cafe later in the month. A dozen strangers brought an item to discuss — such as a hat with personal meaning and a news article about climate change — and people eagerly played musical chairs to talk them over with new post-pandemic friends 

“It’s one of the times there is this consistent through line,” said Laufer, who is planning future events. “Everyone is experiencing the same problem.” 

Make new friends and ditch the old

The question, “Are my friends hanging out without me?” haunts even the most confident social butterfly. In Marissa Meizz’s case, she got a definitive answer: Yes. 

In May 2021, a TikTok user overheard a group of friends in a park talking about purposely excluding their friend Marissa from their party. The post went viral and found its way to Brooklynite Marissa Meizz, who was indeed the Marissa in question. 

Instead of stewing in bitterness, Meizz decided to get new friends: thousands, all across the country. She started a movement called No More Lonely Friends creating massive meet-ups for strangers in places like Central Park. The popularity of the events demonstrated just how eager people were to meet new people after lockdown. 

“Meeting in groups can make things easier and [allow] more free-flowing for conversation,” the 24-year-old tells The Post. “If you meet outside or doing activity, it makes the friendship flourish more and faster and also be more fun!” 

She’s held events in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Austin and more. Next week, she’s attending a wedding for a friend she met through them; another New York meet-up is scheduled for April 23. 

She never got an apology from the old friends, but she’s moved on.

“Not everyone will be your friend instantly,” she cautions, but she likes her odds now. “Almost all of my friends are from the meet-ups.”