In the blocks surrounding the César Chávez Community Garden in Pico Union, small markets, apartment buildings and a Salvation Army youth center with a large mural of David Beckham draw a steady flow of families and neighbors. Buses pass along Union Avenue and 12th Street, adding to the neighborhood’s hustle and bustle. At the center of it all sits the garden, run by the local nonprofit CultivaLA.
It doesn’t look like a typical garden. Crops grow in raised beds, elevated above the ground and filled with healthy plants.
If you walk to the left upon entering, you’re met with a mural from 2003 by artist Zender Jex of César Chávez, surrounded by farmworkers, the United Farm Workers flag and scenes of protest. Located in an area with limited green space, the garden serves as an important place where residents grow food, relax and connect with one another.
But the space will soon undergo a significant change to its identity.
Following a New York Times investigation detailing allegations that Chavez abused young girls and women, his imagery will be removed. Along with it, the garden’s name — the César Chávez Community Garden — will also change, part of a broader reckoning across the country over how public figures are remembered.
CultivaLA plans to remove the mural and signage tied to Chavez and begin a community-driven process to rename the garden.
The space is now at the center of a difficult but growing conversation. Jose Miguel Ruiz, executive director of CultivaLA, said the news left many, including himself, in disbelief.
“My father worked in the fields of the Central Valley, harvesting fruit that feeds the nation,” Ruiz said. “For me, it was always about protecting farmworkers and doing what’s right, so reconciling that image with these allegations has been difficult to process.”
The garden has a long and complex history. Established in the early 1990s, it became a vital space where Pico Union residents could grow fruits and vegetables and gather as a community. It was named by parents and students from nearby 10th Street Elementary School more than 30 years ago, reflecting Chavez’s symbolic importance at the time.
But in 2018, the garden was forced to close after the soil was found to be contaminated with lead and petroleum-related pollutants. The contamination came from the site’s past use as a gas station, auto repair shop and dry cleaner.
The lot remained unused for years as organizers and neighbors pushed for its return. Those efforts led to the garden reopening in September 2025, after a remediation process supported by city and county officials, including Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and Supervisor Hilda Solis.
Now operated by CultivaLA under a contract with the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks, the garden has been redesigned with community input. It features large raised planter boxes built with upcycled materials, native vegetation and open space for events.
Members tend their plots, share harvests and help clean surrounding streets, extending that sense of care beyond the garden itself.
For Ruiz, that sense of community makes the moment even more personal and he said the issue has hit especially close to home as a parent.
“I have a daughter who’s 11, and that’s where I really connected to this,” Ruiz said. “I wouldn’t want anything to happen to her — and I think that’s the sentiment many parents share. It doesn’t matter if it happened 60 years ago or last week.”
He emphasized that the organization is taking a clear stance.
“There’s zero tolerance for sexual assault, whether it happened in the past, now or in the future,” Ruiz said. “We don’t want to be part of the problem.”
The process to change the garden’s name will include community forums starting in early April, where neighbors can share ideas, voice concerns and help shape the future of the space.
“It’s important that we center healing as the first step,” he said. “This is a sensitive topic, and there may be individuals who identify with what happened — we want to make sure resources are available and that we’re responsive as a community.”
The renaming process will also involve coordination with city agencies, Ruiz said.
The effort follows official word from City Hall. Hernandez recently introduced a motion directing the city to review all assets named after Chavez and begin a potential renaming process rooted in community input.
“At a time when people in power are working to sanitize history and peddle misinformation, we have a responsibility to tell the truth, especially when it’s hard,” Hernandez said. “We can’t look the other way. We have to be clear about our values and make sure what we honor reflects them.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education also recently approved renaming César Chávez Learning Academies in San Fernando and César Chávez Elementary School in El Sereno. The resolution, introduced by board members Kelly Gonez and Rocio Rivas, includes plans to recognize March 31 as Farm Workers Day and ensure access to counseling services for students.
For many who spend time at the garden, the news has been both difficult and emotionally complicated.
Camerino Ruiz, 78, a Pico Union neighbor, said he grew up admiring Chavez for his role in defending farmworkers and sees the allegations as deeply painful.
“He was someone people placed their hopes in,” Ruiz said. “To hear this now is a heavy blow for many of us.”
Hilda Vazquez, 78, also a neighbor, supports changing the name, emphasizing that there should be no tolerance for abuse, regardless of who is accused.
“Whoever it is, a leader or anyone, there have to be consequences,” she said.
Both said they would prefer a new name that reflects the broader farmworker movement or community values rather than a single individual.
Adriana Ruiz, who has been coming to the garden for more than 15 years, said the change is necessary.
“If he caused harm, then the name should change,” she said, adding that it also sends a message that abuse should not be ignored, no matter how long ago it happened.
For neighbor Jose Felix Cabrera Larios, 59, the issue is deeply personal. A survivor of sexual abuse as a child in Mexico, he said the allegations highlight the importance of protecting women and children and taking such claims seriously.
“There has to be respect for women,” he said. “This is something very serious, and there has to be justice.”
Cabrera said he welcomes the name change, especially given that the garden is a space used by families. He suggested renaming it the Pico Union Community Garden.
As the renaming process moves forward, many community members say they would prefer a name that reflects collective values: something tied to the Latino community, cultivation or the broader farmworker movement.
For Miguel Ruiz, that collective spirit is already at the heart of the garden.
“It’s not one individual,” he said. “It’s the entire community that makes any movement.”
Need support? RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE, or text HOPE to 64673.