Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), part of Northwell Health, eliminated its main parking lot for visitors and patients this month — displacing thousands of drivers who rely on the lot for appointments and to see loved ones admitted to the medical center throughout the year.
The spacious lot, previously available for patients and visitors at a starting fee of $7.50 for two hours, closed on April 7. Patients said they were not warned of the closure at the Ocean Breeze-based medical center and were left scrambling at the last minute to find parking before their appointments.
Staten Islanders who have had multiple appointments throughout the month said parking has been challenging and is only getting worse.
“I just went yesterday for testing. I had to park three blocks away,” one patient said on Friday. “The parking is horrendous.”
When amNewYork visited the hospital on Saturday, April 19, a reporter observed a worker dismantling the entrance gate to the lot, which is located at 501 Seaview Ave. next to the hospital’s popular Heart and Lung Surgery Tower.
“There’s no visitor parking here; you have to cross the street,” the worker said.
A spokesperson for the hospital told amNewYork in a statement that the main lot was removed to improve safety and access into the facility. Two smaller lots that appear to fit around 400 cars are still available for the same $7.50 base fee for patients and visitors to use.
“This change improves access to both hospital entrances and enhances safety by minimizing the need for visitors to cross active traffic zones,” the spokesperson said. “The update also resulted in an increase in available parking spots for visitors and patients. By reconfiguring a single lot into two dedicated visitor lots, we’re reinforcing our commitment to family-centered care, making it easier, safer, and more comfortable for patients and their loved ones to access our hospital.”
The hospital spokesperson did not say what the recently closed lot will be used for in the years to come.
The spokesperson did not say how many parking spaces were eliminated or reconfigured because of the change.
The overhaul comes on the heels of a tragic crash that killed a pedestrian when a driver struck her on the grounds of the hospital in December 2024. According to a Staten Island Advance article, a 67-year-old man was operating a Volkswagen SUV at the time, traveling southwest on the lot’s access road, when he hit the woman as she was walking.
The lot removal also follows the controversial redesign of Seaview Avenue that eliminated one driving lane and now forces cars to park in the middle of the street.
Meanwhile, many Staten Islanders told amNewYork that the two limited lots that SIUH made available are too small and do not provide enough parking spaces for visitors or people with later-in-the-day appointments.
In a borough that is known as a public transit desert with no connecting subway system, residents rely heavily on cars to get around—making any changes in parking an extra challenge.
“When you go to visit someone in the hospital, at least you are able to park your car,” Staten Islander Mary Kelliher Merritt said. “Now, it’s like, where do you go to park? I think the whole thing is just ridiculous.”
Although metered parking is available on the newly redesigned Seaview Avenue, Merritt said it is not ideal.
“And then you have the meter parking along Seaview. People don’t know how long it’s going to take them in the doctor’s office, and again, if you don’t put enough money in the meter, then you’ll get a ticket,” she said.
