Another Bronx gas station has been put on notice for allegedly gouging drivers during the Sandy-inspired gas crisis – this station allegedly charging a whopping $10 a gallon.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman accused the Mobil station at 3424 East Tremont Avenue of picking drivers wallets when gas was in short supply and the lines of waiting vehicles outrageously long.
In one complaint, a desperate driver idled in line for over an hour only to hear an attendant tell her she would have to pay $50 for five gallons of gas.
“Ripping off New Yorkers is against the law,” Schneiderman said, adding his investigation will continue so long as the complaints keep pouring in.
The Mobil station is at East Tremont and Bruckner Expressway, next to a major highway connecting to I-95.
The owner of the station did not respond to requests for comment.
It is the third station to be under investigation for price-gouging during the post-Sandy gas crisis, where the commodity turned into liquid gold.
Because dozens of stations across the city were shuttered – either from loss of power or failure to receive deliveries , Bronxites were forced to wait on long lines at stations still able to pump gas.
The Lukoil/Getty station on Pelham Parkway off White Plains Road and another Mobil station in East Gun Hill Road in Olinville were the first two stations Schneiderman’s office looked into following consumer complaints.
The Lukoil/Getty station, for instance, hit up drivers with nearly $5 a gallon gas, well beyond the normal rate, which averaged around $4 a gallon last month.
The state sees price-gouging as selling commodities for “an unconscionably excessive price,” when there’s an “abnormal disruption of the market.”
Price gougers are now open to civil lawsuits and penalties if found guilty, according to a spokeswoman for Schneiderman.
Reach reporter David Cruz at 718-742-3383 and dcruz@cnglocal.com.
David Cruz can be reach via e-mail at DCruz@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 742-3383
