Beats: O que significa?

Who can help me with the meaning of "beats" in the sentence "Beats being stuck..."?

Now, as they swung onto the LIE, Joe told Leo he should take note of the rarest of the rare. Cars were actually moving—some exceeding
The speed limit.
Leo remembered his cab ride in from JFK a few days earlier, when the driver had said New York was the world's biggest parking lot.
“Beats being stuck in the world’s biggest parking lot.”
“Look at you. Stick around long enough, we’ll turn you into a real New Yorker.”