Gasoline rationing extended in city

NEW YORK — Gasoline rationing lasted eight days on Long Island, where it was lifted at midnight Friday by Nassau and Suffolk County officials.

It lasted slightly longer in New Jersey, the state that put the words “gas rationing” back into everyday use after decades and was the first to jettison it after 10 days.

But in New York City, rationing that was scheduled to end on Monday has been extended through Friday, even as the gas station lines that prompted it have all but disappeared.

In announcing the decision, Mayor Michael Bloomberg noted the major travel week ahead at a time when 30 percent of gas stations remained closed. He said he was extending the rationing “to ensure we do not risk going back to the extreme lines we saw prior to the system being implemented.”

Even as gas rationing has brought relief from long lines, though, it has not come without a cost. Some drivers complained that it was inconvenient, and others found it yet another reminder of the toll exacted on their everyday lives by Superstorm Sandy.

“I don’t like it because it doesn’t serve the purpose of getting gas when you need it,” said Luis De Pena, 63, a retired nursing attendant in Manhattan.