Couched between the Esplanade and Riverside Drive, these gardens are an excellent public space, and are used often by the city for various purposes. In October, the gardens were the site of Queen Elizabeth II’s big barbecue meet-and-greet with the public, and indeed throughout the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting the site was adorned with a large Hollywood sign-like rendering of the city’s name. The gardens tend to be less full than they were that weekend, usually employed by the city’s jogging classes as their lap-running location of choice. It’s a fine place to take an early evening stroll, too, looking up at the city skyline from the relative emptiness of the lawn. The enclosed area can get pretty dirty and unpleasant, and there are usually a few homeless people under there as well, but in general one isn’t undercover anyway.