Binghamton to Tear Down Crumbling Downtown Garage

A deteriorating city-owned parking ramp in Binghamton will soon be closed and demolished.

The State Street garage opened in June 1970. It's expected to be gone by the end of this year.

Mayor Jared Kraham said the structure is "beyond it's useful life." He said engineers have concluded it "needs to be torn down."

The mayor told WNBF News the state of the garage "is an embarrassing condition for anyone who visits downtown."

Kraham said the goal is to demolish the parking facility "before the heavy snow this winter." Then in the spring, the plan is to open a temporary surface parking lot. That's what happened after the Water Street garage a few years ago.

The mayor said his hope is the parcel at State and Henry streets could provide "a catalytic economic development opportunity."

Kraham said it would be "a great site" for a future project that might include some parking.

The mayor said LAZ Parking - which manages the State Street garage for the city - will work to assist those who now have monthly passes at the facility before it's closed.

Kraham said "a lot of that garage was not being used on a regular basis." Because of the high cost of building new parking structures, the city is not planning to build a new facility to replace the old garage.

WNBF NEWS VIDEO: A two-minute inspection of the State Street facility on October 3, 2025.

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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com or call (607) 545-2250. For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.