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

A Round and a Roundy: The Gods Have Spoken: ‘Pay for Parking’

Cartoon: Bill Roundy

City & State NY is hosting a full day New York in Transit summit on Jan. 30 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. This summit will bring together experts to assess the current state of New York’s transportation systems, break down recent legislative actions, and look towards the future of all things coming and going in New York. Join Keynote Speaker Polly Trottenberg, commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation, along with agency leaders, elected officials, and advocates. Use the code STREETSBLOG for a 25-percent discount when you RSVP here!

Editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy
Editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy
Editorial cartoon of Bill Roundy by editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy.

Free parking is a psychosis. Urban residents who don't really even need cars end up buying them anyway, emboldened by the subsidized free space the city gives them at the curb. And then, when the city changes — Fresh Direct trucks! Same-day deliveries! Bike lanes! Garbage bags filling the sidewalks! — those car owners refuse to give up the public space they've commandeered for free so that our streets remain safe and livable.

Cartoonist Bill Roundy has had enough of the hypocrisy. In today's toon, he shows that even the Parking Gods are smart enough to realize that unfettered free parking is not sustainable. Yet car drivers are willing to sacrifice anything to hold onto their entitlement.

It's a hot take you'll see only in Streetsblog.

Bill Roundy's weekly cartoons are archived here.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Staten Islanders Fight To Keep Park Car-free

Politicians believe cars will make the park safer, but the opposite is the case.

April 18, 2025

Friday Headlines: Trump’s Revenge Tour Now Includes a Stop at Penn Station

U.S. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy is so eager to own the libs at the MTA that he's now taken himself hostage. Plus other news.

April 18, 2025

Exclusive: Cops Writing 15% of Their Red Light Tix to Cyclists, Who are Just 2% of Road Users

We received data from a Freedom of Information Law request showing that the NYPD is intent on writing red-light tickets to the lightest, slowest-moving vehicles instead of doubling-down on enforcement against 3,000-pound-plus killing machines.

April 18, 2025

OPINION: DOT’s Argument Against Universal Daylighting Has a Fatal Flaw

Hydrant zones and bus stops are not a suitable stand-in for universal daylighting — yet DOT is using them to argue against safety, our contributors write.

April 18, 2025

Helicopter Deaths, Fast and Slow

Choppers harm us. Suddenly but also steadily.

April 17, 2025
See all posts