Glen Cove Pumps Dry as Patrons Wait for Deliveries

A worsening gas shortage in Glen Cove left dozens waiting in parked cars or standing in chilly 50 degree temperatures Friday, with no end to the crisis in sight.

"There's no fuel. They can't tell us when we're getting it," said Adam Cantor, garage bays manager at the Sunoco station on Pratt Blvd. He said under normal conditions, the supplier is linked to a meter at the station which shows when gas is low, and a load is sent accordingly.

That isn't happening now, and the station hasn't received a delivery since it ran out Thursday morning.

"Nobody knows anything," Cantor said. "I'll know when I see the truck in the intersection."

Susan Singh, an employee at the nearby Mobil, told a similar story.

"They're only delivering partial loads. They give no explanations," she said.

She estimated the last delivery was one quarter of a full load. The last was Thursday night, which couldn't immediately be sold because the station's computers went down. The problem was fixed Friday morning and sales resumed at 9:30 a.m., but the gas was gone two hours later.

"The phone has been ringing off the hook," said Singh. She said some people are angry but many are understanding. 

"I understand their frustration," she said.

Let Patch save you time. Get local stories like this delivered right to your inbox or smartphone everyday with our free newsletter. Simple, fast sign-up here.

Standing near the pumps at the Hess station on Glen Cove Ave. Friday at 2:30 p.m. was Christa Kellner of Glen Cove. Kellner said she was second in line at the Mobil when its gas ran out. 

"My boyfriend's dad took gas out of the motorcycles" to put in their cars and generators, Kellner said. She said things have gotten tense at times when someone tries to cut the line.

Jeffrey Bonilla, 17, of Glen Cove said he had been on that line since 8 a.m. As he stood with others holding gas cans of varying size, a man walked up and said a police officer told him a delivery was expected by midnight.

While acceptance of the situation was the general sentiment of those waiting, rumors of gas deliveries in nearby villages, some as far as Oyster Bay, would be spoken and dismissed as people speculated it must be gone already.

Faye Barnes of the Glen Cove Gardens apartments stood with Sandy Lipton of Glen Cove, who said she had been waiting at the Hess since 5 a.m.

"I heard they were supposed to get a delivery yesterday," Lipton said, but that never came.

Barnes, who said power at her development had been restored around noon Friday, said she was told a single truck had to return to New Jersey to restock before returning to the Hess with a delivery. As for a timeframe for those deliveries: "There's no answers," she said.

Follow Glen Cove Patch on Facebook