Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In

We're on to the second round in Parking Madness, Streetsblog's annual tournament devoted to shaming our national addiction to huge expanses of surface parking. This year's bracket exclusively features parking craters by transit stations -- and it's a crowded field.

There is one more undecided match from the first round: The poll for Hartford vs. Cleveland is open until tomorrow afternoon.

Today a small town commuter rail station takes on a big city subway stop in the first Elite Eight matchup.

Queens -- Willets Point/Citi Field

mets_willets_point
A subway line and a commuter rail stop both serve the site where the Mets play, which overcame a Norfolk, Virginia, parking crater in the first round of the tournament. Reader Hugh Shepard says it would be put to better use as badly needed housing.

As other readers pointed out, the site has been the subject of some fierce development battles. It was slated for a mega-mall until a court put a halt to that idea in 2012. Currently, Governor Andrew Cuomo envisions building a rail connection to LaGuardia Airport that starts here -- a project that's been roundly derided as a waste of money.

And guess what Cuomo wants to build here for the new transit connection? More parking, of course.

Poughkeepsie

poughkeepsie_train_station

This Poughkeepsie eyesore at the terminal station on Metro-North's Hudson Line beat out another Metro-North stop in Fairfield, Connecticut, in round one.

Jay Arzu, who submitted this site, says downtown Poughkeepsie has been decimated by parking lots, but the city has been working to redevelop this particular site. If that ever happens, it looks like a big improvement:

Rendering: Harriman.com
Rendering: Harriman.com
false

Clearly both of these sites could be so much more than parking lots. Which deserves the shame of making it to the Final Four?

parking_madness_2017

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

More Tantrums: City Halts 34th Street Busway After Threat from Trump DOT

The feds threatened to cut city and state funding if New York doesn't halt all work on the 34th Street busway so the FHWA can review the project.

October 17, 2025

READY, AIM, ‘MISFIRE’: NYPD’s Bike Speed-Limit Effort Only Adds Confusion in Central Park

Two slowly ambling pedestrians were clocked at 19 miles per hour. So what's the point of this, exactly?

October 17, 2025

Friday Video: Drool Over This London School Street

That's cricket! Check out how London transformed a roadway around a big stadium into a play street.

October 17, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Queen James Edition

State Attorney General Letitia James gave our national security desk reporters Dave Colon and David Meyer the ultimate hat tip. Plus other news.

October 17, 2025

Judge Orders Trump to Restore $34M in Security Funding to MTA

DHS overstepped its authority when it attempted to tie money from the Transit Security Grant Program to the Trump administration's efforts to deport immigrants, Judge Lewis Kaplan said.

October 16, 2025
See all posts