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Page added on November 1, 2012
“Brooklyn Is Out Of Gas,” Wait For Fuel Can Last Hours
There may be hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline in the Arthur Kill between Staten Island and New Jersey but there doesn’t appear to be much of that liquid gold at the pumps. In the wake of Hurricane Sandy reports are coming in of incredibly long lines to buy gas—many blocks and hours long—if you can even find a gas station with fuel to spare.
Here’s how one tipster described the ordeal of filling up last night:
Tonight every gas station on Coney Island Avenue, and all stations in Park Slope and Sunset Park, besides the two Hess stations, ran out of gas. Lines at the Union Street Hess went around two seperate blocks and had police road blocks. The line at the Sunset Park location was 10 blocks long in two lanes of Fourth Avenue, with road flares and cops galore. Brooklyn is out of gas.
And it isn’t just Brooklyn, reports of gas shortages are coming in from all over the region with gas stations running out as soon as they can fill up themselves. The Gulf Express station in Bay Ridge says it ran out of gas in three hours yesterday! And things appear to be even worse in New Jersey (just look at that third picture!).
Part of the problem is that without power from Con Ed there are lots of other things that need gasoline to run—like the generators running the banks in Lower Manhattan. Other reasons why there is so little gas?
Two refineries that make up a quarter of the region’s gasoline and diesel capacity are still idle due to power outages or flooding; the New York Harbor waterway that imports a fifth of the area’s fuel is still closed to traffic, and major import terminals are damaged and powerless.The main pipeline bringing gasoline and diesel from the U.S. Gulf Coast refining hub, which pumps 15 percent of the East Coast’s fuel, also remains shut.
Beyond regular drivers, cabs and livery services are also being hurt by the shortage. “We’ve had to cancel a lot of cars today because there’s not enough gas,” a partner at Fone-A-Car in Brooklyn told Reuters.
So naturally fights are starting to break out. According to the Advance things have been testy at stations in Staten Island with shouting matches breaking out when drivers (and people with jugs) try to cut into the long, long lines. But what do you expect when the wait to fill up can be up to two hours?
Have you tried to get gas? How’d that work out for you?
9 Comments on "“Brooklyn Is Out Of Gas,” Wait For Fuel Can Last Hours"
actioncjackson on Thu, 1st Nov 2012 9:21 pm
ha ha ha ha fuck yeah, just wait til this is nation wide…
Arthur on Thu, 1st Nov 2012 10:53 pm
Obviously this is caused by the storm, but it is a reminder of what the future could look like.
Rick on Thu, 1st Nov 2012 11:38 pm
The storm was caused by AGW. This is a wake up call, and no one gets it. If you want to survive in the near future, it’s simple, live simple, which means:
Cash in the house for at least a month
Food in the house for at least a month
Water too
A way to stay warm, for at least a month
Flashlighs, candles, etc.
On the other side, live off the grid, learn how to grow your own food, have no debt, learn how to cook, use tools, etc. Sounds weird, but most Americans can’t do this, or know how.
I could go on, but as we see from Sandy, most Americans are not prepared, and don’t understand.
Another interesting fact about Americans. 50% of this country have less than 25K in the bank. Meaning, that’s it, that’s all they have. Says a lot, in a country that’s suppose to streets paved in gold.
MrEnergyCzar on Fri, 2nd Nov 2012 2:49 am
Great post peak oil practice…
MrEnergyCzar
BillT on Fri, 2nd Nov 2012 3:33 am
Can’t add much to the above comments except … we have been warned. Mother Nature placed a shot across the American bow we called Sandy. We can ignore her at our own peril.
DC on Fri, 2nd Nov 2012 7:14 am
I bet every single amerikan in that line only thought it how once things get back to ‘normal’, they can keep driving and polluting at a pace they are more comfortable with. Having to wait in a line to keep dumping carbon and NOX into the air they breath, and that of there childrens must be very aggravating to a society conditioned since birth to mindlessly accept that its cars, and only that matter.
Fist fights in gas-lines again. You know, cyclists, pedestrians, and people using surface electric trams or other forms of mass transit dont get into fist fights. But at the first sign of someone getting fuel for there trash-bin ahead of them, its fight time! Just think of it as another form of road road, or lack-of-gas-rage? You decide…
Beery on Fri, 2nd Nov 2012 7:49 am
Let’s not forget that over half the people waiting in line at any gas pump are probably driving less than 3 miles.
Bicycles go 3 miles in 20 minutes and they don’t need gasoline.
Kenz300 on Fri, 2nd Nov 2012 2:25 pm
Will the bicycle see a revival in the US for short distance travel?
I have not seen much talk on TV about using this cheap, easy and convenient way to travel.
Exercise, health benefits and cheap travel all rolled into one option. It looks like a option more people should consider for the future.
IanC on Fri, 2nd Nov 2012 6:34 pm
Good comments. This shows us how long and tenuous our supply lines are and how pitifully ill-equiped we are to survive without cheap and ready fossil fuels.
We’re doing what Rick suggests and I’m glad I can come to PO.com and have my world-view supported.
-Ian