8. La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez Community Garden

The La Plaza Community Garden was founded in 1976 by local residents, gardening activists like Liz Christy and the Green Guerrillas, and the Latino group CHARAS, all of whom cleared out garbage and planted seeds to improve the deteriorating, vacant lots. The land became a site for cultural events, and eventually, La Plaza’s amphitheater was constructed from reclaimed building materials.

During the 1980s, developers attempted to gain ownership of La Plaza in order to build on the land, prompting numerous court battles that culminated in a 2002 legal settlement that granted preservation status to La Plaza.