Tyra Banks sets an example

Standing in the rain near the site of a new building on Avenue D that will eventually house the Lower Eastside Girls Club, a group of young girls on Tuesday afternoon greeted Tyra Banks by practicing one of her signature moves, the “smize.” As anyone who has watched “America’s Next Top Model” knows, that is smiling with your eyes. Two of them also showed Ms. Banks a new move, the “smize handshake.” They raised their eyebrows repeatedly while smizing, a move that suggested a lot of confidence, given the presence of the master. That is the kind of interaction Ms. Banks is hoping will become commonplace in the new building, where, when it opens next year, she will maintain an office. Giving a tour of the building to board members of the organization, she pointed out a glass-walled office on the third floor, which is to be the headquarters of a leadership development center, called the Tyra Banks TZONE at the Lower Eastside Girls Club. (The building will also include a bakery, studio space, a wellness center and a planetarium within its 30,000 square feet.) At the center, Ms. Banks announced that she is reviving the TZONE concept, which began in 1999 as a series of summer camps to build self-esteem among young girls, with the Lower Eastside Girls Club. Since she completed a Harvard University executive-education program in February, Ms. Banks has been focusing her business plans on ventures aimed at empowering young women and supporting female entrepreneurs. “My dream was to have a place that was brick and mortar, where they could build on that experience all the time,” she said. “The real impact is to have consistency, as opposed to an excursion.” By working out of the center, Ms. Banks, who has also been vocal about broadening the perception of beauty within the fashion and modeling industries, hopes to lead by example. In addition to working directly with the girls and young women who use the center, she will be doing her routine work among them. “What I don’t want to be is Tyra, the ‘celebrity girl,’ coming here and the girls being excited when they see me,” she said. “I want them to be numb to me. I can do normal work here and they can see me, to know that this is what a business is. It’s not about living on a red carpet. I am a businesswoman who goes to work every single day.”