POWERING UP A NEW SUSTAINABLE PEACE MOVEMENT: There’s a new energy rising in North Bed-Stuy, and Our Time Press was witness to it on Wednesday, June 1, the first day of National Gun Violence Awareness Month. 

The Bedford-Stuyvesant residents, faith leaders and business owners, seen here, are working together with the newly arrived MAN-UP! organization to refurbish and make safe the Kosciusko Garden on Lafayette between Marcus Garvey Blvd. and Lewis. “That’s just a start,” said a community advocate, whose Vietnam Vet older brother returned from his tour of duty and was tragically killed by gunfire in New York City. 

 “We’re seeding the community with new strategies for sustaining the presence of long-time residents and small businesses here. It’s about more than transforming an over-weeded area into a sanctuary. It’s transforming lives, children’s lives.”