New York City is currently in the midst of the worst fuel crisis since the 1970s, though this time its not at the behest of Middle Eastern oil cartel OPEC. In fact, gasoline has become such a commodity that NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg has ripped a page from the 1970s playbook and implemented gas rationing, a move NYC neighbor New Jersey has already undertaken.
Starting today, drivers will be forced to fill up their tanks on alternating days but they’re not complaining. Drivers with even numbered license plates can fill up on one day, and drivers with odd numbered plates on the other. The idea is to shorten the lines at gas stations and to help temper the stress put on suppliers.
One New Yorker told CNN “It is smart because the lines will be half as long. But if it is an emergency and you need gas on a certain day you may be out of luck but for your average person it may be smart.”
Though this move may be the most efficient, the Big Apple is already behind in that aspect with Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island having enacted rationing yesterday and New Jersey last Saturday. But this isn’t first attempt at salvaging fuel. The New York Times wrote that “Mr. Bloomberg noted that federal and local officials had already tried other steps, like expediting the opening of regional ports to barges and tankers carrying petroleum products. In addition, federal officials have sent millions of gallons of fuel to the New York region.”
Regulating fuel in the nation’s most populous and densely packed city will certainly be a daunting task and the ration system is likely to stay in place for at least a couple of weeks. Bloomberg said in a statement yesterday that only 25% of NYC gas stations (roughly 800) are open and operational.
The crippling gas crisis comes at the hands of Hurricane Sandy and was worsened by nor’easter Athena, Sandy being the most devastating storm to ravage the east coast in recent memory. As of yesterday there were still 696,000 homes and businesses without power though utility companies are only partly to blame for the fuel shortage. In reality, there are a number of reasons why gas is so coveted. Obviously there are those still without power but adding to the predicament is that fuel tanks are flooded, trucks can’t reach stations, barges can’t reach docks, petroleum stations are damaged, and people have made a desperate run on supplies in anticipation of such a circumstance.
Frustrations may be rising but so are temperatures as forecasters are predicting the weather to be in the 50s and 60s this weekend, hopefully making things a little easier for those in distress.
