On May 2, I joined New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman as he announced he is filing lawsuits against four service stations for charging consumers excessively high gas prices in the days immediately following Hurricane Sandy last November. Attorney General Schneiderman also announced he has reached monetary settlements with 25 other service stations and has investigations pending against dozens more.

I commend Attorney General Schneiderman for holding gas station owners who engaged in post-Sandy price gouging accountable. It’s said that after the storm come the vultures, and that is exactly what happened here. Thousands of my constituents were without power for days or even weeks, and people throughout the region depended on gas-powered generators for their survival. In a time of crisis supply and demand do not apply. Attorney General Schneiderman has made it clear that such price gouging is unconscionable, illegal, and will not be tolerated in New York State.