08-02-2025
Daniel Penny has meet-cute at NYC bodega while picking out flowers: ‘This is the perfect couple'
He's a hero – and a heartthrob.
Daniel Penny had his own meet-cute at a Manhattan bodega last week, according to a photo of him grinning alongside brunette bombshell Aubrey Strobel, a Big Apple-based filmmaker and podcast host.
Strobel, 32, ran into Penny, 26, while he was picking out flowers outside the shop on Jan. 29, she told The Post.
'I was leaving the gym and was walking on the street, and I saw a guy that looked like Daniel Penny – you know, he has that very unique look,' she said.
'I said, 'I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for everything you had to go through, and I also wanted to thank you for being brave and standing up for other New Yorkers when you didn't have to do that,'' the 'Aubservation' podcast host recalled.
Penny was acquitted on charges of criminally negligent homicide on Dec. 9 in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely.
'He was like, 'Thank you so much,' in a really humble way, almost self-deprecating – he was just really kind, really warm,' Strobel said.
They spent a few minutes talking about their neighborhood, she said.
Strobel snapped a selfie with Penny, then posted it on her X profile alongside the caption, 'new york just feels safe nowadays.'
As of Friday, the post had amassed a whopping 7.2 million views and over 2,000 comments.
'A lot of people on X think we're getting married now, because the picture does look a little romantic with him holding the flowers,' Strobel said with a laugh.
'People have been like, 'Gosh, this is the perfect couple, blah blah blah' — but I don't know if he has a girlfriend, or who he was even buying the flowers for.
'I'm just happy to be friends with him,' Strobel said.
Penny's lawyers didn't respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this week, the Marine vet landed a job at powerhouse Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. He will work in Manhattan on its American Dynamism arm, bolstering the firm's relationships with the Department of Defense and public safety sector, according to a memo from partner David Ulevitch.
'I believe, as I know many of you do, that Daniel acted with courage in a tough situation. He was acquitted of all charges. Beyond that, it has always been our policy to evaluate the entire person and not judge them for the worst moment in their entire life, he wrote in the internal statement obtained by the Free Press.
