Exes Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez Spend New Year's in NYC as She Jokes She's Not Dating Again

The friendly exes, who split in 2016 after dating for nearly a year, were spotted walking the streets of New York City on New Year's Day

Ariana Grande and Ricky Alvarez kicked off 2019 together.

The friendly exes, who split in 2016 after dating for nearly a year, were spotted walking the streets of New York City on New Year’s Day — in photographs published by E!.

Grande, 25, wore a puffy Fendi jacket with black thigh-high boots and a matching black face mask. Meanwhile Alvarez, 26, kept it casual in khakis, a white T-shirt, a black jacket, and a navy blue ski cap.

Both appeared to be having fun, Grande even sharing clips of their day together on her Instagram Stories.

Their day out came as Grande joked on Twitter that she wouldn’t be dating anyone for “the rest of this year / probably my life.” Grande had a tough 2018 in the romance department, with high-profile splits from ex-fiancé Pete Davidson and the late Mac Miller (who died in September of an accidental overdose).

Ricky Alvarez and Ariana Grande in 2016. Jun Sato/GC Images

Grande sang about Davidson, Miller and Alvarez (as well as Big Sean) in her song “Thank U, Next” — which has spent the past seven consecutive weeks on the top of the charts.

Rumors began circulating in December that she and Alvarez, her former backup dancer, had rekindled their romance after they were spotted in New York City together. The two also had a funny back-and-forth about the lyrics she dedicated to him in “Thank U, Next” on social media.

But Grande was quick to squash that. “We’re friends everyone take a big ol breather” she wrote on Instagram, as fans questioned if the two had gotten back together.

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While accepting Billboard’s Woman of the Year award in December, Grande struggled to hold back tears as she touched upon her very tumultuous year.

In May 2018, PEOPLE confirmed Grande and Miller had split after two years together. Shortly after the pair’s separation, Grande and Saturday Night Live star Davidson began dating. They were engaged less than two months later — though their whirlwind romance also ended, with the pair calling off their engagement in October.

“I want to say that I find it interesting that this has been one of the best years of my career and the worst of my life,” she said. “I’m not saying that for sympathy, I’m just saying that because I think a lot of people would look at someone in my position right now…and think, ‘She’s really got her s— together,’ Ya know? Like, ‘She’s really on it.’ Like, ‘She’s got it all.’ “

Grande continued: “I do, but as far as my personal life goes, I really have no idea what the f— I’m doing so yeah, it’s been a very conflicting one.”