Maybe When Community Boards Tire Of Protecting Bar Owners They Can Work On Gas Stations

Bradley Hope writes in the New York Sun about disappearing gas stations in Manhattan:

Just months after the City Council paved the way for big residential projects in Chelsea, gas stations are quickly disappearing as developers seek large plots to capitalize on the housing boom.

In the last few months, an Exxon station on 23rd Street and Tenth Avenue, a Gulf station on 28th Street and Tenth Avenue, a Mobil station on 42nd Street and Eleventh Avenue, and another gas station on 53rd Street and Tenth Avenue have closed, inconveniencing drivers near key entrances to the West Side Highway and contributing to the recent run-up in city gas prices.

. . .

The far West Side has more gas stations than most parts of Manhattan, but the neighborhood’s ongoing transformation into an upscale residential enclave is in part possible because gas stations — with their unused air space, relatively large square footage, and prime locations — are seen increasingly as weak business enterprises.

“The property in Manhattan is more valuable as something else besides a gas station,” Mr. Bombardiere said. “We’ve been closing stations steadily.”

In 2005, Manhattan had a total of 58 stations, four fewer than in 2002, according to the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs. The numbers for 2006 aren’t out yet, but with the West Side and Chelsea closings, the number could drop to close to 50 stations to serve the tens of thousands of driving commuters and taxi and delivery truck drivers who enter Manhattan every day.

The city has seen similar transformations in recent years along Houston Street and on the Upper East Side along First Avenue. Gas stations have been demolished to make way for apartment towers, hotels, and office buildings. Even the emblematic Gaseteria stations have thinned out across the boroughs.