A Sign Of Things To Come? Gas Prices Top $5 Per Gallon On Long Island
GREAT NECK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It's shocking -- reports that gas will reach $5 per gallon by the summer.
Believe it or not, a station on Long Island is already charging that much. CBS 2's Don Dahler went there Tuesday to find out why.
The sign at the Gulf station on Northern Boulevard in Great Neck really does say a gallon of regular will cost you $4.99.9. Unless you have a spare one-tenth of a penny lying around, for all intents and purposes, that's a $5 gallon of gasoline -- $5.09 if you use a credit card.
Click here to check gas prices near you.
The reaction? Well, you can probably guess.
"Wow! That's crazy you know!" said Jose Godinez of Queens.
"[That's] very expensive gas," added Helene Flint of Jericho.
"$4.99, I think they're crazy!" added Great Neck's Michael Capuozzo.
Dahler went inside to try to get some explanation for the price, but the manager wasn't in and the attendant could only say he was told to up the price on Monday.
Of course, gas station owners can charge whatever they want for their gasoline. It is a free market. But not even a block away, across the street, is a BP station where they're selling gasoline for $3.95 a gallon. So the better question is why would anybody pay $5 a gallon?
Dahler asked the only gas customer he saw at the Gulf on Tuesday, Andre Jackson of Valley Stream.
Dahler: "I just wanted to know if you realize you're paying a dollar more per gallon here than anywhere in the area?"
Jackson: "Yeah. Yes I do."
Dahler: "Why would you choose this gas station when there's one right up the street that has a dollar less a gallon?"
Jackson: "I didn't know that. I'm not from the area, but I needed gas. Yeah, what can you do about it?"
Dahler: "Pay through the nose?"
Jackson: "Yeah, we're paying through a lot more than that!"
Dahler did notice other customers stopping to buy things in the store, but no one else was filling up while he was there. Still, with gas prices everywhere on the rise, you have to wonder is this guy really crazy or is he simply ahead of his time?
And Dahler heard there's another station in Oceanside selling gas for $5 a gallon, even though the national average is $3.72.
WCBS 880's Sophia Hall On The Story
Podcast
Also Tuesday, WCBS 880 reporter Sophia Hall met a man who has been using the iPhone app called Gas Buddy to find the best prices on regular gasoline.
Instead of grabbing his car keys, Frank Bridges told Hall he puts on his tennis shoes and walks, so he doesn't have to use up the gas in his car.
He said the next car he buys will have better gas mileage.
What is the highest regular gas price you've seen? Please share it in the comments section below!
