Rationing shortens New York gas lineups
NEW YORK — New York City started rationing gas Friday morning as tempers remained short, lines remained long and panic buying continued more than 10 days after a deadly superstorm stunned the infrastructure of the United States’ largest city.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the shortages could last another couple of weeks and that only a quarter of the city’s gas stations were open. Some had no power, and others couldn’t get fuel from terminals.
“This is designed to let everybody have a fair chance,” Bloomberg said of the new system, based on even-numbered and odd-numbered licence plates, that lets drivers fill up every other day.
“This is worse than the oil crises of the 1970s,” said Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops. “Back then there was just a perceived shortage of supply in New York, when there was plenty of gasoline around. Now we’re having real distribution problems.”
Many gasoline terminals — which transfer fuel from tankers at sea to trucks on land — sustained damage from the storm that created a record surge of sea water and flooded low-lying areas.
The long lines at the pump have added to the frustration of commuters, who must choose between driving and enduringseemingly intermin-able waits for buses and trains with parts of the transporta- tion network still damaged.
The gas lines appeared to shrink Friday.
“It’s a lot better,” said Manhattan driver Luis Cruz said. “A couple of days ago I waited four hours. They should have done this a long time ago.” The line to his station was just a block and a half long. Before Friday, some lines stretched for 1.6 kilometres or more.
The lines were consider- ably shorter in New Jersey, and Gov. Chris Christie said he expected power to be restored to 100 per cent of the state by Saturday night.