A Case of Mistaken Identity Leads to a Central Park Meet-Cute: ‘The Rest is History’ (Exclusive)

Elizabeth Ann Kahane, whose new photography book ‘Come Join the Parade!’ is out now, tells PEOPLE of her real-life New York City rom-com moment

Photographer Elizabeth Ann Kahane’s new book, Come Join the Parade!, captures the magic of one iconic New York event: the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It's a compilation of photographs that Kahane has taken of the parade from the third floor window of her Upper West Side apartment.

But Kahane tells PEOPLE that she also has her own memorable New York City moment, which occurred not too far from where she currently resides. The photographer met her husband, Bill, in Central Park, in a case of “mistaken identity.”

“As I was going over to play tennis — I was taking a lesson — I saw somebody running in the reservoir that I thought I knew, and I started yelling, ‘Billy, Billy,’” Kahane says. “Then he got close to me.”

“I said, ‘Oh my God, I'm so sorry. You look just like someone I know named Billy Cohen,’” Kahane says. “And he said, ‘That's funny, I'm Bill Kahane.’"

Turns out, both men worked in real estate, and Billy Cohen was actually having dinner with Kahane's employer the following night.

“I reached into my tennis bag and I gave him my business card,” Kahane says. “And so as they say, the rest is history.”

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The couple were married in 1999 in New York, and share one son, Harry. Bill and Harry also have essays included in Come Join the Parade!

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Kahane has been an avid photographer since she first received a Pentax camera as a teenager. After working in fashion and real estate, she was able to dedicate her time to photography full-time. Her years shooting the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began when she and Bill were looking for their first apartment together.

“I said, ‘Well, I have to be in the park. I've always been in the park I love as a runner and photographer,’” Kahane says. After touring apartments, the couple found one that included many amenities they were looking for, including a wood-burning fireplace.

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“[The broker] said to him, ‘From the dining room table, you can watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade,” Kahane says. “And he bought it … That began the journey of photographing the parade.”

Kahane says that her biggest hope with the book is that it will bring readers of all ages together.

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“You can enjoy it yourself or you can share it with others,” she says. “This is what I imagine: sitting down together and looking at [the photos] together, almost like you would go to a parade as a family.”

Come Join the Parade! is now available, wherever books are sold.