Howard Beach youth center debuts to rave reviews

Kids and parents alike said the Howard Beach Community Youth Center (HBCYC), officially introduced Monday, October 22 at an open house, will be a much-needed resource for children in Howard Beach.
“I grew up here, and we had something like this,” said Peter Kissane as he watched his son, Peter, Jr., 16, play foosball with a friend. “I believe kids need it. It was a really good thing for us growing up.”
The two-floor youth center, housed in what was formerly the convent at Our Lady of Grace (OLG) Parish at 158th Avenue and 101st Street, includes couches, big-screen TVs, ping-pong, air hockey, and much more - all through the donations of community members.
“We’ve actually got some stuff downstairs we don’t know what to do with yet,” said HBCYC co-founder Sean Roberts. “If someone gives us something, we’re not going to say no, so we’ve got some extra.”
The center has come a long way in just two months, when Roberts and co-founders Nick LoPrinzi and Joe Perillo began discussing the idea. When they ran the idea by OLG Pastor Fr. Joe Gibino, who could not attend the open house, he offered the convent as a location.
The center will be open Saturday nights between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., and kids between grades 7 and 10 are welcome to attend. Supervision will be provided by volunteer parents, and use of the center - and the OLG gym, which Gibino also offered up - will be free. The only charge will be for snacks and drinks in the youth center’s kitchen, and that money will go towards paying HBCYC’s only expense - Direct TV access.
The majority of kids in attendance at the open house were 7th-graders, and LoPrinzi said he hopes more 9th- and 10th-graders show up to the youth center’s grand opening, Saturday, October 27 at 7 p.m.
“Once the older kids start showing up, suddenly it’s cool, and the younger kids will be more willing to come,” said LoPrinzi.
But LoPrinzi may not have to do that much convincing. Everyone present last night seemed to be sold.
“I’m going to enjoy spending time with my friends,” said Tyler Roberts, a 12-year-old 7th-grader at OLG School. “Doing whatever you want - no parents.”
Center organizers say they do not plan to enforce many strict rules or standards. When asked if roughhousing or rambunctious behavior was a concern, Roberts said the center was a place “for kids to be kids.”