After the successful demolition of the front walls, the sledgehammer-ers turned their attention to the job of removing the front stoops. As it turned out, they needed to resort to the use of a jackhammer instead—the bedrock that has been such an issue in digging out the basement apparently came into play here, too. But eventually both stoops were successfully removed.
With help from the sledgehammer-wielding workers, the walls were removed from the fronts of 2524 and 2526. The Jesus mural partially visible in the photos above was designed and painted in the early 1990s by two young men in our congregation. This came about because groups of young men were increasingly gathering outside our church doors dealing drugs. We prayed for God’s guidance as we searched for a way to more clearly identify our corner of 146th Street as belonging to the church, and to challenge passersby with the Gospel message. When Richard Pannell and Ben Stevens (now co-pastor of King of Glory Tabernacle, Bronx, NY), suggested the idea of a mural, the idea was warmly embraced. In all the years it has been on the wall, there has never been any graffiti painted over the mural. In fact, the same young men who originally caused disturbances became the protectors of the mural—warning people from others blocks not to mess with our wall.
This area is now surrounded by a shed enclosure that will remain for the duration of the construction.
