Love is a many-splendored thing, especially when you’re gawking at it from the outside. In this new column, we’ll be examining the celebrity couples—or, occasionally, friend pairs—who give us hope for our own romantic futures as we try to learn what we can from their well-documented bonds.

Living in Los Angeles, where I’ve become way too accustomed to bad news of the “wildfires engulfing the city” and “ICE chasing down innocent migrants in Home Depot parking lots” variety, it’s been lovely to dial into the joyful energy of New York—the city that was my home for 13 years—since Zohran Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo in the New York mayoral primary this week.

Of course, Mamdani isn’t mayor yet; he still has the general election in November to contend with. But I’m feeling a lot better about his chances, knowing that former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander is on his side. After the two mayoral candidates endorsed each other on June 13, the sight of them answering some, well, extremely pointed questions on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert together was a beautiful and sorely needed reminder of the long history of solidarity between Jews and Muslims.

And then there’s the matter of how goofy and nontraditionally masculine Lander and Mamdani’s friendship is. I mean, just look at them cruising up Prospect Park West to a joint canvassing event on Citi Bikes: