As we first reported last week, the BP station on East Houston and Lafayette is closing on April 14 to make way for a 7-story boutique office building.
With this closure, there will be just one gas station in the city below 14th Street — a Mobil on Eighth Avenue near East 13th Street. (There is also a BP on East 23rd Street at the FDR.)
Now as DNAinfo's Allegra Hobbs reports, community groups are concerned about the lack of options in the case of another disaster such as Sandy.
“We learned from that gas shortage that occurred in Superstorm Sandy how important this resource is to a community, and now we find ourselves with no gas stations anywhere near,” said Damaris Reyes, executive director of Good Old Lower East Side and chair of emergency preparedness group LES Ready.
“This does not do well for thinking about a balanced community with all of the resources that are necessary to help it be functional and resilient in a time of need,” she said.
You may recall the vehicles lined up for gas in the days that followed Sandy in November 2012 before the last two stations in the East Village closed ... and there were also lines of pedestrians filling up gas cans for generators at the now-closed Mobil on East Houston and Avenue C...
[EVG photo from November 2012]
...when there was gas anyway...
[EVG photo of the 2nd Avenue BP from November 2012]
Heading to another borough or New Jersey would be a very real possibility, per DNAinfo.
“Having to cross a bridge or go through a tunnel to get gas is not the best way to prepare for an emergency,” said Trever Holland, president of the Two Bridges Tower Tenant Association. “If there are no gas stations to go to, it becomes extremely problematic as to how you’re going to get gas for generators.”
Previously on EV Grieve:
How much longer will the East Village have gas stations?
Have you seen the glass tower in the works for Lafayette and East Houston?
Filling up: the status of 2 former East Village gas stations
Report: Boutique office building on East Houston and Lafayette at BP site a go
BP station on East Houston and Lafayette closes April 14