The times are changing. No news there. Rather than welcoming the sailors and marines on the docks, some New Yorkers are reaching out to sailors during Fleet Week using social networking.  Some sailors and marines are connecting with New Yorkers the same way.  Craigslist seems a particularly popular way to make connections.

Fleet Week 2011: Navy sailors and Marines connect with New Yorkers on Craigslist

As U.S. Navy and Marines Corps personnel flock to New York City for a week of military celebrations and shore leave, countless locals welcome them with open arms.

And hundreds more welcome them with craigslist ads offering, well, a lot more than open arms. Patriotism and perversion collide under the site’s “Casual Encounters” area, where posters offer everything from couches to crash on to companionship.

Leonard, who says he’s a 40-year-old from the upper West Side (and has a flair for exclamation points) posts: “I love watching the ships pass by on fleet week! …Perhaps we can have brunch as we see them pass by!”

A 35-year-old from the West Village who claims to be a Navy Lieutenant is looking for a “US Naval Officer Wingman”. He writes: “NYC local Navy Lieutenant with access to the hottest spots in Manhattan. Any Navy officers coming up who are into the night scene wanting to have a great time, send me an email, I’ll show you my NYC We will hang in uniform and will be a blast.”

But the connections run two ways. The military men and women are reaching out to New Yorkers as well.

One proud military woman writes, “Been cooped up on the ship awhile, and well I’m ready for fun.”

“Your looks and age are not the most important thing to me,” posts a self-described 35-year-old “tall, fit athletic and good looking” naval officer. “But your confidence and sense of self are. I’m looking for someone who enjoys life and who exudes confidence and self-assuredness.”

A 28-year-old Fleet Weeker seems so primed for his New York City visit that the Navy could power a destroyer on his energy alone. “I am in town a few days and looking for a nice woman who wants to have a good time TODAY.”

Thanks to Bowsprite for a passing the article along.