Locals pinch pocketbooks at the pump

The nation’s rising gas prices have forced several Franklin Square and Elmont business owners to modify their business practices, including pushing higher costs on to customers. Some businesses, especially those that rely heavily on driving, have even seen a slow-down in business due to gasoline prices, which recently surpassed $4 per gallon for regular unleaded.

Experts attribute the spike in gasoline prices to turmoil in oil-producing Middle Eastern nations, as well as increased demand for oil in countries like China, where more people are now driving than in the past.

Lawrence Blessinger Jr., owner of All Island Transportation, a taxi company that’s headquartered on Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square, and has branches in East Meadow and Merrick, said that business has remained “status quo” in recent weeks, and that the company has not raised fares. However, he noted, the recent jump in gasoline prices has made it more difficult to find drivers, since they pay for fuel themselves. “It also hurts the drivers who are currently driving because they’re not making as much money,” he said. The recent weather warm-up has also caused a minor set-back for the company, Blessinger said. “I think you’re seeing a lot more people walking locally,” he said.

Expecting increased gasoline prices, Blessinger said, the company has incorporated four-cylinder Ford Fusions into its fleet in recent years because they are smaller and thus do not burn as much gas.

Similar to how All Island Transportation is faring, Symphony Executive Limo, at 70 Freeman Ave. in Elmont, said business has remained steady, despite the rise in gas prices. Customers of the limo service pay between $80 and $120 per hour, depending on the vehicle and number of passengers, plus a surcharge to cover gas costs — equal to 10 percent of the hourly rate.

Denise Paul, an employee in Symphony Executive’s accounts payable department, said the company increased its surcharge percentage in February, from 8 percent to 10 percent, after receiving news about gas prices rising. Paul said many other limousine services have increased their surcharge to 12 percent.

Paul said Symphony Executive services a wide range of customers daily — between 15 and 30 — and has seen a slight drop in business recently, of about two to three less customers per day. The company provides transportation to customers throughout Long Island, the five New York City boroughs, New Jersey, Connecticut and sometimes Pennsylvania, she added.

Paul said Symphony Executive is preparing for gasoline prices to rise to nearly $6 per gallon for regular unleaded by the end of the summer. If that happens, she said, the company’s surcharge will most likely increase.

Vincent Giordano, owner of Tulip Caterers, at 1020 Tulip Ave. in Franklin Square, said that in the past two months, the rise in gas prices has caused his production cost to increase by 15 percent. In the past two years, Giordano said, Tulip Caterers’ production cost has gone up by nearly 28 percent, but more than half of that increase has been in the past two months, he explained.

“In a nutshell, when gas goes up, food costs go up,” Giordano said, “and right now, I am at the breaking point.”

Although his budget is tight, Giordano added, he has not raised prices for customers. “People are having a hard time right now because of high taxes,” he said. “I was born and raised in Franklin Square, and I know that people are paying the highest taxes in Nassau county. In the past two years, the county has been the highest in the nation. I’m holding my prices the same as what they were five years ago, when prices were the lowest.”

Giordano said he has reduced his staff’s hours to save costs, but hasn’t eliminated any positions.

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