: Price-Hunting: Queens Looks For Answers To Gas Dilemma

With gas prices on the rise, and showing little signs of dropping anytime soon, the costs are sending shivers down the spines of consumers and business owners, not to mention striking a particular nerve with many politicians.

Oil prices have reached record prices in recent weeks, hovering in the mid-$70 range for a barrel. As local and global demand increases during the summer and fall, some experts are predicting that price could easily exceed $100 a barrel, making today’s $3 a gallon pump prices a fond memory.

Political instability in places like Iran, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia – all major oil exporters – has investors worried that gas supplies could dry up at any time. Adding to those fears is the lingering concern that the world’s oil resources are getting increasingly difficult to tap.

These problems have no easy answers, politicians say, even as they attempt to come up with some. But with Americans crying out for relief, legislators in New York and Washington have been working to draft a policy to wean the country off what the President himself has called an addiction.

The Price We Pay
While filling up her Mercedes SUV at a Fresh Meadows gas station, Jennifer Chen lamented how expensive gas had become, saying it had caused her to change her everyday routine.

“I drive less,” she said. “I make one trip and that’s it if I have to go to the supermarket.”

But Chen fuels only one car on her way to and from work. For those who must purchase gas for a fleet of vehicles hauling cargo over long distances – namely, local delivery and shipping companies – current gas prices are cutting even deeper into their bottom line.

Consumers feel rising energy costs most viscerally at the pump and in their heating bills, but it could soon affect nearly everything they buy as gas prices squeeze many of these businesses.

For OCS America Inc., a Long Island City-based freight compnay, gas prices have become a serious issue, according to its president, H. Naito. He said he has no choice but to monitor the news and other companies for ideas about saving on fuel costs.

Lily Gavin, owner of Daizies Restaurant in Elmhurst, said her food deliveries have become increasingly expensive, but she has been reluctant to pass those costs onto her customers, fearing she would lose their business.

“As a small business owner, I have a problem because I pay a gas surcharge on all my deliveries,” Gavin said. “This shouldn’t be happening on the backs of small business people.”

Both consumers and companies are trying to find ways to conserve gas, such as using more fuel-efficient cars and driving more conservatively. But pumping less gas also comes with an economic backlash: gas stations are selling less at smaller margins, putting a strain on their business.

George Trezos, owner of an Amoco station on Grand Avenue, said he has sold anywhere between 600 and 9,000 fewer gallons a month this year than in the past. “Thank goodness the store has been busy. I try to make up some of the profits there,” he said.

Digging for a Solution
Aside from immigration reform, energy issues have been the most popular topic in recent weeks among Congressional lawmakers. As mid-term elections approach, Democrats are making a campaign issue out of high gas prices, a circumstance they say partially results from the Republican’s friendly relationship with the oil industry.

U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Jackson Heights) and Sen. Hilary Clinton (D-New York) held a joint press conference last week at a Maspeth gas station, where they put forward their own proposals but mostly lambasted the current Administration for their failure to control skyrocketing energy costs.

“I am frustrated. I just don’t get it,” Clinton said. “We have done everything we can to break through the wall of denial and defiance that Bush and the Republicans have built…but it’s like Nero fiddling as Rome burns.”
Both politicians were critical of the large profits that oil companies have raked in from the recent high prices. Clinton has even suggested a windfall tax, which would require oil companies to return some of their lush profits to taxpayers.

Crowley has drafted legislation that would give $1,000 in tax rebates to help Americans cover the financial burden of rising gas prices. The average price of gasoline has risen 28 cents in the last month, 69 cents in the last year, and $1.50, almost doubling, over the last two years, Crowley said, enough of a dramatic increase to merit federal aid.
“The time has come for real action,” Crowley said. “We don’t have all the answers, but we need policies that will help Americans.”

But such reforms have proved difficult to push through Congress, as illustrated by the failure of a $100 tax rebate proposal that stalled this week in the Senate.
Possible legislation has become caught between partisan rhetoric – Democrats accusing Republicans of pandering to corporate America, Republicans accusing Democrats of pandering to voters – making compromises difficult to reach.

Not everyone believes the government should become involved at all. As he put $50 of premium gasoline into his new Audi Quattro, a financial analyst named Mike said it would be unwise to meddle with the free market system. He pointed out that gas costs had not risen over the last 20 years at the rate of other commodities.

“Unfortunately, people are going to have to cut back,” said Mike, who refused to give his last name. “The prices of goods are going to go up as companies deal with these higher prices.”

Worldwide Gas Prices Per Gallon
United Kingdom $6.70
Germany $5.29
Japan $3.84
Queens, NY $3.19
Russia $1.45
China $1.54
Saudi Arabia $0.71
Venezuela $0.14
Prices from CNN
The Per-Gallon Cost Of…
Gasoline $3.19
Glaceau Water $5.00
Milk $3.25
Coca-Cola $2.50
Starbucks Coffee $12.54

The Cheapest Gas In Queens
Price Station Location
$3.09 Gulf Union Tpke/Springfield Blvd
$3.09 Gulf Corona Ave./95th St.
$3.11 Getty Union Tpke./Main St.
$3.12 Exxon Corona Ave./Junction Blvd.
$3.13 Gaseteria Union Tpke./Parsons Blvd.
$3.13 Sunoco Utopia Pkwy./LIE
$3.15 BP 65th Pl./Queens Blvd.
$3.15 Mobil Woodhaven Blvd./Yellowstone Blvd.

Gas Prices as of 11:30 a.m. 5/3/06 reported by www.gasbuddy.com

Hey, Can They Change That?

Some New Yorkers pass the same gas station several times in a day, and the price at the pump is different every time.

Are they allowed to do that?

The answer is yes. While several states have laws that mandate how often a gas station can vary its price – in New Jersey, for example, it can only change once in a 24 hour period – New York has no such statute, according to Jon Sorenson, a spokesman for the state Department of Consumer Affairs.

Like almost every state, however, New York has detailed anti-price gouging laws. While gas prices are allowed to steadily climb, it’s illegal for a station to dramatically increase what they charge from one day to the next.

DCA recently started a gauging hotline for people to complain about suspected violators, 1-800-214-4372. People can also register complaints at www.nysconsumer.gov.

To find the cheapest gas in your area, a good resource is www.newyorkgasprices.com, which shows real-time prices at different local stations.