Peter Harrison knew the newly opened TWA hotel at Kennedy Airport in Queens was just the place to propose to Jennifer Markas.
“We both love architectural history and midcentury modern design,’’ Ms. Markas said. She packed 1960s-looking outfits for the one-night getaway there, including a Kate Spade red polka dot dress to go with the bright red décor of the sunken lounge at the hotel, previously the TWA terminal, which had opened in 1962 and was designed by Eero Saarinen.
Mr. Harrison, 37, an adjunct professor of information technology systems at Baruch College, ordered a Kir Royale for Ms. Markas at the bar, her favorite drink. Then they took a front-row seat facing the terminal’s still-working arrivals and departures board.
“The ticker started to tick, tick,’’ said Ms. Markas, 35, the executive director of the Women’s Jewelry Association, a nonprofit group in Manhattan that supports women in the jewelry and watch industry. Mr. Harrison got down on one knee at 7:20 p.m. and the board slowly printed out: “Jenn, Will you marry me? This is Peter.”
Mr. Harrison, a founder of homeBody, a tenant organizing app, is also running for Congress in New York’s District 12 on the Homes Guarantee platform against Carolyn Maloney. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross and received a master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia.
After the couple matched in August 2018 on the dating app Bumble, Mr. Harrison greeted Ms. Markas with a big hug at Pier i Cafe along the Hudson River in Manhattan. They spoke for hours over frozen margaritas and appetizers.
“I felt so excited about someone who had an equal amount of energy as I did,” she said. “I’m a Type A, a little fiery. He’s more relaxed.”
Mr. Harrison walked her home to Central Park West and 104th Street, but didn’t mention for another month that he was running for office. He didn’t want to scare her off, he said.
In June 2019, he took her to Middle Village, Queens, to canvas door to door for Tiffany Cabán, a Democrat who was running for district attorney at the time. “I was nervous for the first couple of doors,’’ Ms. Markas said.
By the fourth door she wholeheartedly jumped in, and chalked up a vote. “From that moment I knew I found the right partner to spend my life with,” Mr. Harrison said.
Until the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, they knocked on a lot of doors together for his campaign.
“Friends and family say if you can get through this moment,” she said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic, “you can get through your next 50 years.”
On April 29, the couple were married in Central Park at the Pool, near the Great Hill. Ms. Markas wore a light blue dress by Alexia Maria, and Mr. Harrison donned a Liberty of London strawberry thief print tie and handkerchief. At the ceremony were three of their closest friends, including Jonathan Hakakian, who was ordained by Open Ministry and served as the officiant. Attending via Zoom were the bride’s mother and two sisters from Southern California, the groom’s parents and a sister from Avon, Conn., another sister from Woburn, Mass., and his brother in Abu Dhabi. A larger ceremony, which had been planned for April 25, is now scheduled for April 2021 at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York.
