In Times Square, a Marriage Proposal That’s ‘Them’

Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times John Cusick and Sally Abdel Ghaffar met while they were students at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

John Cusick stood at the bottom of the TKTS stairs in Times Square, looked up and yelled out, “Mic check.”

The crowd echoed back: “Mic check.”

This was not the beginning of a protest; it was a marriage proposal.

“Sally, you make me the happiest man alive,” Mr. Cusick, 23, said on Saturday as he looked straight into his girlfriend’s bewildered eyes. Over 200 people repeated his words, which for a moment seemed to engulf one of the most chaotic places in New York City.

Mr.Cusick and Sally Abdel Ghaffar, 23, were both students at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice when they met in 2010. Mr. Cusick was vice president of the school’s Republican club, and Ms. Abdel Ghaffar was president of the Democratic club.

“No matter what one of them said in class, the other said the opposite,” said Amy Green, a professor at John Jay College, who went to watch the proposal. “In the beginning I thought it was kind of showy, but then I realized that it’s them.”

The couple’s political divisions are real. Ron Paul is an off-limits topic. Abortion is a tricky subject. On the economy, they fall on opposite ends of the spectrum. Ms. Abdel Ghaffar describes herself as a socialist. But the constant altercations eventually brought them closer. Mr. Cusick recalled the first time he found himself opening up to Ms. Abdel Ghaffar. He told her that his parents had been evicted, and he talked about his struggle to stay above the poverty line.

“It was the first ! time we opened up about who we were and where we were coming from,” Mr. Cusick said.

Mr. Cusick was raised Roman Catholic, Ms. Abdel Ghaffar Muslim. His family is from New Jersey, hers from Egypt. But both are die-hard activists - not afraid to break with tradition. At one point, Ms. Abdel Ghaffar suggested to Mr. Cusick that they take a trip to Egypt and run youth empowerment workshops for high school students. Mr. Cusick accepted, and in January 2011 they flew to Cairo and ran a number of workshops on how to use social media, among other tools, for political expression.

When they completed the workshops, Mr. Cusick flew out on Jan. 24, only one day before the Egyptian revolution erupted. Ms. Abdel Ghaffar stayed and participated in the protests.

On Jan. 28, when the government took down Internet and cellphone service, Ms. Abdel Ghaffar called Mr. Cusick from a land line and asked him to reach out to her father in New York and to let him know that she was fine. It was then that Mr. Cusik asked if Ms. Abdel Ghaffar would go out with him.

“I had started to see a different side that was more vulnerable and compassionate,” Mr. Cusick said, adding that the entire trip was an eye-opening experience. “I just wanted to encourage her to come back.”

Two and a half years later, Mr. Cusick staged what Ms. Abdel Ghaffar called the “perfect proposal.” He asked more than 60 family members, friends and professors to come to Times Square and spread themselves out along the stairs and encourage others to participate. Friends came carrying pink signs that read “Say Yes!!” Family members started to introduce themselves to one another. Dozens of pizza and doughnut boxes were set aside for the after party. At 8:10 p.m., all was set.

Falling on one knee, Mr. Cusick asked the question. “Will you marry me?” It reverberated.

The cheering that followed turned Ms. Abdel Ghaffar’s “yes” into a whisper.