Post-Sandy Gas Lines Go On And On And On (And Will Continue To)

Let the siphoning begin? “Guy on W96th ‘borrowing’ a gallon from his friend.”(@coreykilgannon)

The great post-Sandy gas shortage continues! Though officials say they’re working to alleviate the problem, don’t expect to see lots of fuel flowing at the pumps just yet. See, distributing the stuff is very difficult under the circumstances. So if you can go without filling up, you should try, because just look at those lines!

How bad are things? According to some estimates, 80 percent of New Jersey gas stations are closed right now. And that number isn’t going up until those stations can be refueled. On the plus side, officials are working on that. “There are a number of factors that are causing gas shortages and massive lines at the pump, but one of the critical ones was simply a lack of supply,” Senator Chuck Schumer said in a statement today. One of them was getting gas into the area, but now “that has been addressed. The [Port of New York] is open, the backlogged barges can begin to dock and gas and will begin to flow into New York again.”

But the gas still needs to get to distribution centers and then tankers before it hits the pumps. Plus, with demand for gasoline extra high due to the huge power outages in the area (gotta power those generators!), understand that this could take longer to get back to normal. Did we mention many of those distribution centers are still in the dark? “What I’m seeing is there’s a combination of problems,” Sal Risalvato, executive director of the N.J. Gasoline, Convenience, Automotive Association, told CNBC. “Power is at the root of it. That means gasoline that is already in inventory, already refined in those big tanks you see along the side of the turnpike, they can‘t get that gasoline into the delivery trucks without power.”

The worst part is that the gas shortage itself is making things worse. Because people wait for so long for gas they are buying more than they need, making it more even more scarce. People are even waiting when there is no gas to get! As one commenter reported, “I was just at the two stations on 4th avenue in Park Slope (union and 3rd street i believe). One was out of gas and STILL had a line that was 5 or 6 blocks long – people were waiting hoping for a new delivery. The other had gas and a huge line – fights and yelling.”

The shortage is also leaving many others in lurch, including commercial operations who are dependent on the black gold. As one commercial delivery official put it to us: “We service 1,500 restaurants that likely are not going to get any bread tonight because we don’t have gas for our trucks; I’m sure all the other purveyors have similar issues (beef, eggs, produce, etc.).”

But if truckers being kept off the road don’t tug at your heart strings, maybe you’ll be more concerned about what this means for cabs? As one tipster writes in to us: “This gas shortage is no joke. I came to my boyfriend’s in Astoria from Park Slope on Sunday. Tried to head back home today, but no car service will take me, say they can’t make trips that far due to lack of gas, and they aren’t sure when they’ll be able to.”

So what to do? Try not to drive. And while you are doing that, maybe sit back and look at these horror line movies! Here is a line on Staten Island last night:

Gothamist