City Councilman: Gas Price Gouging Found On Hutch Parkway

2 CITGO Stations Jack Prices Across The Board Above $4

February 28, 2011 9:33 PM

CBS 2′s Tony Aiello found two CITGO stations along the Hutchinson River Parkway in NYC that were charging more than $4 across the board for gasoline. (Photo: CBS 2)

Reporting Tony Aiello

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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Pain at the pump got more severe last week. AAA said the average cost of a gallon of gas jumped about 15 cents.

Drivers are on the lookout for price gouging, but one local official said the city is allowing it to happen right under its nose, reports CBS 2’s Tony Aiello.

The price at this pump is enough to make your heart jump.

“I was really blown away by the price!” one driver said.

It’s $4.09 a gallon for regular at the two CITGO stations on the Hutchinson River Parkway just north of the Bruckner. One driver didn’t pay attention and a fill-up cost him $63.

“Kind of in a hurry, coming back from vacation, just wanted to get where I was going, did not look,” said Tracy McMillan of Fairfield, Conn.

Aiello looked and found gas 40 cents cheaper at a nearby Hess station, 50 cents cheaper at a BP station and 60 cents cheaper at an independent station. And that has Bronx City Councilman James Vacca calling for action against the CITGO stations.

“They’re obligated to be in sync with surrounding gasoline prices in the immediate community,” Vacca said.

The CITGO stations sit on city land and operate under a deal with the Parks Department. Last summer the department warned the stations about price gouging — reminding the owner to offer “quality and price as prevail at other stations within a 5-mile radius.”

“I want the city to terminate this contract,” Vacca said, adding “$4.09 is nowhere near any gas station in the immediate vicinity, and they’re violating the terms of their agreement.”

These prices are actually an improvement over last August, when this station was caught selling gas for about 90 cents more per gallon than other stations in the area.

The owner denied gouging, telling Aiello the stations are expensive to operate because of the rent the city charges — despite their convenience on the parkway.

Some drivers told Aiello the prices at the stations are always peculiar and that they always just drive right on by.

It turns out, there’s cheaper gas at the next exit.

Late Monday the Parks Department said based on complaints it is “evaluating” prices at the CITGO stations.

How angry does this make you? Please tell us your thoughts in the comments section below.

City Councilman: Gas Price Gouging Found On Hutch Parkway

JohnD

see my reply to Ryan – Above
mike

let them charge whatever they want, it’s a free country (at least it was 3 years ago)
Adam

In NYC a candy bar can cost $1.50 and where I live it will be 50 cents. I’m sure it sucks but no one has a gut to their head to live in NYC.
Bob A

Good! All cities run by Democrats deserve the highest gas prices. Its the energy terrorist Dems that are stopping us from drilling for cheap local oil. Dems should have a 50% tax on their gas to subsidise the rest of us who want to drill!

Accommodator

Cheap oil IF we drill domestically? HA! Brought to you by the same parties who fooled weak-minded Americans into invading unarmed countries with the promise of cheap petroleum. Be off with you who would charge your fellow Americans OPEC prices for our domestically produced petroleum.

Teresa

It’s sick. I live in Herndon VA and last week an Exxon and a Shell had the gas set at 3.29, I went about half a mile down the road to sunocco where it was 3.09…The Shell I expect it from cause the owner is a jerk and reminds me of a Ferengy from Star Trek always lying and looking to make a buck, the Exxon I think just did it because they did. It’s a shame, Exxon lost my business for good that day, Shell never had it.
bob trundle

Why in God’s name would anyone buy CITGO and put even one (1) penny in the pocket of the certified, deranged nut known as Hugo Chavez. It is beyond me.
HP

What difference does it make? Everybody is out there to rip each other off if given a chance. If not the government then the gas stations
Ryan

Price gouging by definition is when the govt sets a prices for something and a person charges more than that price. What kind of fact checking is being done on this article? Obviously the reporter is not educated, and his editor is the same, unless of course they are idiologically bent.

I wonder when it became ok to print complete lies and misinformation. What would I expect from some NYC hacks.

Rosey

My thoughts exactly.
JohnD

According to Wilipedia
Price gouging is a pejorative term referring to a situation in which a seller prices goods or commodities much higher than is considered reasonable or fair. In precise, legal usage, it is the name of a crime that applies in some of the United States during civil emergencies.

The reporter was not using the term as a precise legal definition. It was using it in the common usage, as in Charging higher then reasonable. Is that too dificult for you to understand? Why are yuo defending this Citgo station? Are you a Eco-terrorist or Marxist?

bob

If you pull into a gas station and fill up without paying attention to the price, that is your stupidity at work, not price gouging. They even point out in the article lower prices were just down the street.

Let this station raise their prices however much they want to, they’ll only sell gas to people willing to pay that price. If they charge ‘unreasonable’ prices for the gas, fewer people will buy it and they’ll either lower the price or go out of business.
Tom

Prices are written or spoken, hence telling someone what price they can set is an infringement of their first amendment rights to free speech and a free press.

“Gouging” means “They set their price higher than others”
“Dumping” means “They set their price lower than others”
“Collusion” means “They set their price the same as others”

Obviously anyone selling anything is committing one of those ‘crimes,’ which is how we know they are BS.

doktor

Try to buy 5 gal exactly, you will get 4.5 gal from the pump… At least 10% less…
George G

The City needs money. Higher prices mean greater sales tax revenue. Don’t look for the City do do anything more than rattle their swords.

Justin

Tax on gas is based on how many gallons you buy, not how much it costs. It’s a set X cents per gallon.

andrewskyman

But of course… it’s NY City. Don’t they “price gouge” everything?!!!!! hahaha …what the freak do you expect?

Then again, maybe they’ll start a new UNION to straighten it out! hahahahabwaaaaBWAAAAAAAA !!!!!
Accommodator

When will Americans wake up to the injustice in THIS country? The USA is one of the worlds top oil producing country, producing over half of our Nations needs. Why are we paying OPEC prices for our domestically produced petroleum? CORRUPTION by two ruling parties must end if there is to be an economic recovery. Like water and food, Petroleum is a National resource.and citizens should NOT be exploited by out-of-control corporations.
Kile Anderson

Exactly how is it gouging? They can charge $100 a gallon if they want to. If someone wants to pay that, good for them. If you don’t want to pay that, go to the next exit. This is a non-story.

Accommodator

Price fixing used to be illegal in this country before corruption set in. Petroleum is a national resource and it belongs to the people, NOT the ruling elite parties. In the countries Democrats and Republicans hate, like Venezuela and Iran, petrol costs around 80 cents per gallon (to cover the costs of extraction, refining, marketing and distribution. The difference between 80 cents and what AMERICANS are paying is simply CORRUPT. THe USA is NOT a member of OPEC. WHy are we forced to pay OPEC prices for our domestic petroleum? Why do rebellions against this countries friendly dictators abroad cause oil prices here to rise on gas already in the pipeline? CORRUPTION!

oil boiler for 32 years

Accommodator, you sound more like an A-communist-dater… the oil does not belong to the people any more than iron ore, sugar cane, lumber (forests) or any other natural resource that is brought to market. Corporations pay to lease the property where they drill, whether from the government (offshore) or private individuals (know anyone with an oil well on their property?).

Price fixing is exactly what people who want to limit pricing to “reasonable” costs are shooting for – fixing the prices LOWER. The free market made this country the economic superpower that it is today. Would you rather live in the poverty that exists in Russia? Venezuela? I think not. So why don’t you think instead of spew this nonsense?

The real tragedy is our government growing out of control trying to control everything. They try to pander to every whiney constituent out here rather than doing what makes sense to run our country intelligently. Mark my words, this will get our country into more trouble than anything.
Ranger01

Accommodator – Good Job!
Kile Anderson

Do you understand what a commodity is? Obviously you do not. When the supply of something in demand is threatened, such as massive political upheaval in a major oil producing region, the price of the commodity goes up.

Petroleum is not a “national resource”. It is owned by the person who owns the property on which it is produced. That’s the way our economy works.

You must be an Obama voting communist.

daryl duke

You people better wake up and find the real culprite. Some -what west of you is a place called DC and biggest thief there is the WH.
D

$4+ a gallon isn’t price gouging, it’s still a free market. But 13 Trillion national debt being forced on the citizens is gouging!

gommygoomy

Hey D. I’m with you. $4.00 a Gallon is Price Gouging? What’s $30 for a Hamburger called? What about $60 for a Steak? How much is a GALLON of Milk? A pound of Butter? How about a ticket to the Ballgame, or a Broadway Show? How much are the BRIDGE TOLLS? We already know that the RENTS are TOO DAMN HIGH.
$4.00 a Gallon, in New York?
If you ask me, they’re practically GIVING IT AWAY.

Tina

Dont use CITGO! Hugo Chavez owns them.
Intelligent Person

This article is so stupid – these 2 CITGO stations are always 40-60 cents more than anywhere else. What difference does it make that it is over $4 now?
Econo-master

master- your spelling is horrid, it is steal not steel… And remember you still work for us, we pull back and everyone suffers.
wayne

I think you mean price gouging country wide!!!

BigDaddyDK

Until you can demonstrate collusion and price fixing you cannot make a case for gouging. The price will naturally go to the level the market can bear, and people are still buying fuel. If it could be sold for less someone would undercut the competition to make more money and it would drive the price down. Pay attention sometime to the corner with two stations and watch what happens when one of them lowers the price. The other lowers their price in less than 24 hours, usually to the same price. When the price goes up at one station, the other may hold off for a day and reap the extra money from sales, then boost their price to cover the replacement cost.

Mike

Here’s why I refuse to give Citgo any of my business….

Timuchin

If the price was advertised $20 per gallon would you be stupid enough to buy it and admit you did?

johnny

If the city was so concerned about how much we’re paying at the pump, they should consider reducing the tax on gasoline.
Edison Herrera

The answer lies in our hands. All we have to do is not buy gas at these stations that are price gauging and they will eventually have to play nice and drop their prices to the level of the other stations on the area.

BigDaddyDK

That’s how a free market works. Eventually they’ll have to lower the price or go out of business. It’s not gouging. Gouging would be charging an artificially high price for something in high demand, usually something that’s scarce. It oftentimes goes along with monopolistic conditions, like DeBeers and diamonds for example.

Bill

Considering there is a gas surplus currently and we get the majority of our imported oil from Canada…. blaming the increases on the middle east is BS and price gouging. The gas station owners should be deported back to the third world hell holes they were born in.

Eddie Yount

thieves
CT

Wow, 4.09!? I thought 3.50 is expensive around here.
ronnie from morris park

Jimmy the weasel brought this up before and as we can see it didn’t help then and it won’t help now.

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City Councilman: Gas Price Gouging Found On Hutch Parkway

2 CITGO Stations Jack Prices Across The Board Above $4

February 28, 2011 9:33 PM

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