In the end, Ross and Rachel turned out to be more than just “Friends” – and the show’s fans couldn’t be more excited.
“I think they’re the perfect couple,” said Yesenia Ensminger, 17, of The Bronx, after NBC wrapped up its hit sitcom by putting the on-again off-again couple, played by David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston, together for good.
Ensminger was one of about 2,000 people who went to a huge finale party at Hudson River Park in lower Manhattan, where drive-in movie screens were set up to accommodate thousands of fans at Pier 25.
“Good for Ross. Go for it!” shouted Billy Rowland of Hillside, N.J., in the park.
“For the whole show they’ve been together and every time they’d break up it was like a tease.”
“Friends” fans gathered at parties large and small elsewhere in the city to say goodbye to the Thursday-night TV tradition.
At the 40/40 club on West 25th Street, patrons crowded in to watch dozens of TVs tuned to the episode.
“We thought it would be a packed event,” said Mike Bornstein, 27, who came with his friend Janet Lau, also, 27. “We wanted to be part of it. We didn’t want to watch it alone.
Watching “Friends” helped Lisa Spodak, 34, of Manhattan make some real-life friends.
She hosted a party at her Upper West Side apartment with a group of pals she met through “The Friends Zone,” an Internet mailing list devoted to the show.
“I’ve been watching this show for almost a third of my life,” Spodak said.
She added that while the finale “felt like a regular episode,” she was “surprised” that Monica and Chandler had twins.