11-Year-Old Works 'Emotional Advice' Stand at the Bedford L Stop

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — If you're seeking personal advice this holiday season from an unusual source that happens to also be right on the money, just make your way to the Bedford L stop next Sunday from noon to 2 p.m., where Ciro Ortiz, a Bushwick sixth grader, will be waiting for you with his "emotional advice" stand.

Ortiz, 11, has gotten bullied at school, and he wanted to channel his frustration into something productive for the greater community, his parents told the New York Post. So he set up an advice stand and has offered five-minute, $2 sessions over the past nine Sundays.

Ciro told the Post, very wisely, that the common theme he sees in adults asking for advice is that they are wary of change.

"They feel a certain way in the past and when they look [back] in hindsight, they say things were so much better back then," he said.

But Ciro offered a sliver of profound advice: "We have to accept [change]. It’s going to happen — it’s always going to happen. Life is always changing."

As if Ciro couldn't get any more adorable, he also gives the money he earns to kids at his school who can't afford to buy lunch food or snacks, his parents said.

His mother, a 35-year-old poet, said he's a very sensitive kid and has really grown into his own in the past nine weeks.

"The first day he was out there, he was very nervous and unsure of himself . . . A few Sundays later he's come back saying, 'I've met so many wonderful people. I'm gonna end up having so many friends.'"

>>>Read the whole feature at NYPost.

Photo credit: Patch