Thirty years ago this month I arrived in New York with less than $50 in my pocket. Parked my pickup in Jersey, where it was stripped and destroyed in a month or so. No computers, no internet, no VCRs back then, just a day job in a music publisher's warehouse and at night, a band that was going nowhere. Played at CBGB (Country Blue Grass and Blues, that's what Hilly thought would be performed there - punk was a couple of years away). In the audience, only 3 people, all friends of the band, including a brilliant and sexy woman who became my wife.

Now, with two smart and talented sons grown up and moved out, a career in television behind me, the life that Lyn and I built (all based on her good ideas and boundless confidence) reaches a point I couldn't dream of at age 24. In the middle of a personal retooling, a community movement and a technological revolution, I'm dreaming of another 30 years with Lyn. But every day is a blessing.

Daily News - Let's hear it for the girls

Click "MORE" for the complete text of today's Daily News story on Lyn and the Lower Eastside Girls Club.

Let's hear it for the girls
A lower East Side club aims to raise $5 million.
If anyone can do it, it's these young ladies
By AZADEH ENSHA

(PHOTO) Rosario Dawson hobnobs with club member Tamara Oliveras, 8 1/2.


(PHOTO) Guest teacher Gigi Cohen helps Kay-Ann Phipps, 15, with a photography project.


(PHOTO) Valerie Galindo (l.) and Carmen Leandry staff the club's bakery, Sweet
Things. 'Words can't even describe how much I love this job,' Galindo
says.

The Champagne was flowing, the gowns were sparkling and the celebs were
mingling with mortals. But it wasn't a big movie premiere or fashion
extravaganza that brought 600 well-heeled guests to Bowery hotspot
Capitale Monday night.
It was the plight of a group of girls, ages 8-25, who want a place to
hang out.
The Lower Eastside Girls Club of New York, a community center that's
been without an official home since its creation in 1996, is trying to
raise $5 million toward a facility in their neighborhood.
And so far, they're doing a spectacular job.
"Everyone understands how unfair this situation is," says co-founder and
executive director Lyn Pentecost. "I have two sons, so I know what
resources are available to the boys. They have two full-functioning
facilities. There's no comparable space for our girls."
The star-studded benefit on Monday was just one way the group is
collecting cash for their project. With two girl-run eateries, a
seasonal farmer's market and more initiatives in the works, the group
has launched one of the most unique fund-raising campaigns in the city.
At the end, they may well achieve their goal: The first-ever Girls Club
building in New York, a 48,000-square-foot complex that will house an
80-seat screening room, art gallery, care and counseling services and
more. The girls who benefit from the club's services will have access to
high-speed Internet. It will also be the first and only all
environmentally sustainable youth center in the country, complete with
geothermal walls and solar panels.
To date, the Girls Club has raised a whopping $2 million toward the
state-of-the-art facility. "I feel a sense of responsibility to the
neighborhood," said Rosario Dawson at Monday night's gala. The actress
grew up on the LES, and was discovered outside her apartment building at
the age of 15. "A lot of kids get lost in the school system and end up
dropping out or getting pregnant. I want them to have more choices than
that. The best way to do that is through a mentorship program like the
Lower Eastside Girls Club."
Also on hand at the 600-person benefit were fellow Girls Club supporters
Rashida Jones, Chloe Sevigny, Charlotte Ronson, Zac Posen, Billy Crudup
and Claire Danes.
"Girls need a haven. They need an equal chance," said Jones, who has
hosted events for the organization. "I was a Brownie growing up, and
that gave me a sense of community, which is especially important for
girls. Strong foundations start young, and I support groups who help
create them."
Paul Creditor, a lawyer, said he joined his wife at a $2,500 table so
the girls could have "somewhere to call their own. They're entitled to
all the benefits guys are entitled to. That's why we're here, and that's
why we're going to bid on things." And bid they did: The benefit auction
raised $150,000 toward the goal.
Among the group's other projects is Sweet Things, a girl-run bakery with
a just-opened cafe of the same name. The Avenue C storefront (the cafe
is on E. First St.), offers cupcakes, cookies, granola, tea and coffee,
and also sells Girls Club tees. The shop is also helping raise money for
the new building by selling brownstone-shaped gingerbread cookies.
Valerie Galindo, 19, became a charter Girls Club member in 1996.
Today, she's got a paid, part-time position she adores: Sweet Things
associate.
"This is nothing like my other jobs," says the LES success story with a
smile from her post behind the bakery counter. "I used to fold clothes
and there's nothing I like more than baking. Words can't even describe
how much I love this job."
In summer, members take part in a farmer's market downtown, selling
organic vegetables and specialty herbs. The club's third business, the
Fair Trade and Girl Made gift shop, opens in December.
In addition to raising money, the club's projects help keep idle hands
occupied.
First-year Girls Club member Sada Davis appreciates having something to
do.
"Girls need a place to talk about girl things and do girl things," says
the 16-year-old Seward Park High School student. "It keeps us out of
trouble. I had nothing to do after school, and my friend told me about
this place. I do photography and dance. It's really fun."
Now, the club is renting two floors on 56 E. First St. The location is
one of many the organization has called home since its inception,
including its first - the back of a sock shop on Avenue A.
"When we started out, one of the first things we did was ask the guys if
we could share their facility, and they said absolutely not, so we
decided then and there to create our own place," said executive director
Pentecost. "This project is something that's been one of our goals from
the beginning."
If it succeeds, the new building - which is set to begin construction in
winter 2005 - will be able to accommodate five times the 350 girls the
club now supports.
And no one can put a price on the sense of family the club offers girls
like six-year member Kay-Ann Phipps.
"I don't have a sister in real life so I consider the people here to be
my sisters," said the 15-year-old University Neigborhood High School
student.
Phipps says the club has helped her thrive - both socially and in
school.
"I was failing my classes, and the tutoring they have really helped me,"
she said. "I'm on the honor roll now."
Apart from tutoring, the club also offers flamenco classes, a museum and
book club, arts and crafts, as well as fitness and nutrition classes.
For LES Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, who rallied the federal
government for $400,000 toward the creation of the new building in 2002,
the effort to secure a facility is a personal passion.
"When you look at the faces of these girls, you can't help but to try
and get them their own institution," she says. "They can rediscover
skills and dreams they never thought possible. They could be learning
entrepreneurial skills that will help them be the future business
leaders of America."
Pentecost is also fighting hard to make that happen.
"We're getting there," she said. "If anybody wants to write a check, let
me know."

Originally published on October 21, 2004