Old Westbury mom helps start biz for broken hearts

Barbara Peskin's recent experiences prove that just about anything can be made into a business, even hearts broken by husbands who walk out the door without much notice.

Peskin, a psychiatric social worker from Old Westbury who recently retired as co-founder of CIS Counseling Center in Manhattan, where she worked for 25 years, decided to help start a business in East Norwich - broken heartkits.com - after her older daughter, Ellen Rose, 45, of New Jersey, found herself divorced with two young children about three years ago.

"This is a gift to my daughter and the girls like her," Peskin said.

But it is also a way to make money. The site offers a $79.99 "Survival Kit" containing Peskin's book, "It's Time for a New Beginning," plus some other unusual items, such as a Step On Your Ex Floor Mat, which is billed as "Your turn to walk over him," a voodoo doll and a Divorce Dart Board. There are also chocolate Band-Aids, a candle and candies.

"I said, 'Let's do something,' " Rose said she told her mom and sister. "I told them I had a dream of creating a survival kit."

In case you think Peskin's site is anti-male, she is preparing a site for men who have suddenly been divorced as well. "That will come next," she said.

The site went online only about a month ago, and so far, Peskin said, she has sold 20 kits. But, she said, a television program has expressed interest in doing a feature.

Rose is a co-creator, and another daughter, Lori Cohen, 43, pitches in with savvy gained from her Oyster Bay Cove company, Gift Creations.

"You can always find bits and pieces like wine glasses," Rose said. "But you never find a full kit that has it all."