Businesses, locals balk at gas prices

It’s never a good sign when the man pumping gas into your car shakes his head in bewilderment and shame, but that’s what happened last week when I paid $60.33 to fill my Toyota Camry on my way into Baldwin.

“Look at that! Sixty dollars,” said Manuel, the sweatshirted attendant at a full-service gas station on Lido Boulevard in Point Lookout.

“Hey! You’re not supposed to say that. That’s my line!” I barked, flashing him a quick “only joking” grin before pinching three 20-dollar bills from my wallet and surrendering them.

Across Long Island, the already pinched are being pinched again, and the already suffering are taking it on the chin. Fuel prices have topped the $4 mark and are still rising. With the increase in prices at the pump outpacing the economic recovery, area commuters are increasingly opting to drive less and save more.

According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks consumer spending, American drivers bought 2.4 million fewer gallons of gasoline in the week starting April 1 than they did during the same period last year. This represented a 3.6 percent drop in fuel consumption at the approximately 140,000 service stations monitored by Mastercard. The last time the nation saw such a significant decrease in petroleum purchasing was in snowy December, when roads were blocked and businesses were forced to close.

This month, however, it’s not Mother Nature dissuading drivers from hitting the road, but prices. Before the decline, the demand for fuel had increased for two consecutive months, leading many experts to predict that the trend would continue upward as the recovering economy set more commuters in motion. Instead, America has hit the brakes, and now some 70 percent of service stations across the country are reporting a drop in business.

Baldwin, of course, is proving anything but immune to the national trend, and businesses throughout the area are anxiously hoping the tide turns. It may be cold comfort, but as of Monday, the USA Gasoline station in Baldwin had the lowest prices on Long Island: $3.98 per gallon of regular gasoline. Several other stations were managing to keep that price at $3.99, but that wasn’t helping public perception much.