Sheepshead Bites Brought Them Together. Now They’re Getting Married

Every great couple has a great story about how they met.

Lenny Markh and Mariya Yudkevich — who tie the knot Sunday — have one of those stories. And Sheepshead Bites is happy to take credit as their matchmaker.

The two should have been friends since childhood, and it was probably inevitable they would cross paths. They were born in the same Belarus city, grew up less than three blocks from each other in Sheepshead Bay, and their fathers are both NYCHA elevator mechanics. But somehow Lenny and Mariya remained strangers until a summer day in 2012 when Sheepshead Bites brought them together.

They met during the Sheepshead Bay Fourth Anniversary party at the Baron de Kalb – Knights of Columbus on Emmons Avenue. Mariya said she was making her way through the crowd when a conversation caught her ear: A man boasting about how he would create more bike lanes when he is elected to public office.

“So I came up to the group and I said: I don’t know which one of you said that, but let me tell you why you’re wrong and stupid and it’s never going to happen,” she explained.

During the argument that followed, they discovered a shared an interest in politics — Lenny is currently the Director of Community Affairs for Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz and Mariya is an aid to City Councilman Alan Maisel — as well as the connection between their two families.

Here’s a photo of a younger Lenny checking out his phone at the party.

They parted ways that night promising to reunite, but neither of them heard wedding bells.

“He’s a cool guy, but he’s too short for me. I’m not kidding you. That’s what I thought,” Mariya recalled during our interview this week.

“You didn’t have to be that honest,” Lenny responded jokingly. “My thought was: She’s cute. I could see myself getting into another argument with her.”

Lenny pursued her more aggressively when they met again at the 61st Precinct’s Night Out Against Crime. Mariya was stationed at a table for her then-employer, former City Councilman Lew Fidler.

“At one point, my coworker leaned over and said to me: ‘I think this guy really likes you. He hasn’t left the table for two hours.'” she explained. “It was adorable.”

Lenny finally won her over that summer when they shared their first kiss outside the Anyway Cafe — it was another get together organized by Sheepshead Bites’ founder and former editor Ned Berke.

Since then, the two have shared many memories and milestones, and the political debates that sparked their romance continue.

“This is the kind of pillow talk we have: government programs,” Lenny explained.

He also pointed out he appears to have won their first argument. In addition to the ring, he bought her a bike as an engagement present. Mariya uses it exclusively on bike lanes because she doesn’t like riding in traffic.

They marry Sunday at Baku Palace on Emmons Avenue — just a few blocks from where they met. Very much local yokels, Mariya explained everything at their wedding — the flowers, entertainment, food, music — all comes from neighborhood businesses.

“We met because we’re locals, we grew our relationship because we’re locals. So a lot of the choices we’ve made about the wedding celebrate that we’re local,” she said.

We’re glad you’re locals too. Congratulations, Lenny and Mariya!