NEW YORK -- Gas stations are nearly facing extinction in Manhattan after years of selloffs and closures, said Crain's New York Business. In September, a Lukoil station closed, leaving 41 stations on the island, compared to 58 two years ago, according to the report, citing the Department of Consumer Affairs. The city's five boroughs contain 835 locations in all, meaning Manhattan's share is less than 5%.
The dearth of refueling options pushes up prices and forces taxis out of midtown and downtown, where both workers and tourists rely on them for transportation, the report added.
Some blame the lure of lucrative profits from real estate in midtown. Others say the ever-higher cost of delivering gasoline to inner Manhattan makes periphery locations more practical.
"It's just a sign of the times," Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing at Prudential Douglas Elliman, told the publication. "Selling off gas stations accelerated at the height of the market before the downturn, and now it's picking up again. As money gets freed up and development moves forward, once again we'll see some of those sites being bid on."
ExxonMobil shut a location in January, part of a 55-site selloff in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Now, just 11 stations stand south of 96th Street. Seven of those are gas stations on 10th and 11th avenues.
East Houston Street offers something of a hub for drivers to refuel. The Mobil there charges as much as 15% more per gallon than the New York state average, said the report. The Gulf and the BP on Houston and Lafayette streets charge less than the Mobil; both are owned by Kalish and Kerner Petroleum.
"My stations are doing better than ever," co-owner Harris Kalish told the paper. "Volume has never been higher, because all these stations keep closing. Every year, one or two stations close, and I'm sure it will happen again next year."
With fewer options to refuel, drivers throughout New York face higher prices for gasoline. The state is fifth priciest in the nation, at $3.718 a gallon, according to Crain's, citing AAA. The New York City metro average tops the statewide figure by 11 cents--and the cost of gasoline has risen by more than 90 cents a gallon from a year ago.
As more stations close, the remaining few should become more profitable, the report said. Profits per gallon in Manhattan are "a bit higher" than the national average, Kalish said, declining to specify his stations' sales.
Kalish, 64, who's been in the business 40 years, said his remaining stations' time is almost up. The BP will last perhaps three or four years, he guesses, and his ever-crowded Gulf location likely won't survive the decade.
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