For many New Yorkers an oven is the place where you store winter clothes, extra aluminum foil and maybe some back issues of The New Yorker you aim to get to later. But some people actually use them (and their stoves), and get very unhappy if they are removed! Also, litigious. Meet Beverly Taki, 66, and her husband Louis Maione, 68, who, the Post reports, are now suing their old Park Avenue co-op board and management company after the gas to their commercial-size, six-burner double oven was inexplicably turned off for nearly ten months. They're looking for $27,000 to make up for the takeout and restaurant meals they say they were forced to consume while they waited. more ›

BP has reached a settlement with hundreds of thousands of businesses and individuals along the Gulf Coast who had sued the company after the massive oil spill in 2010. According to the Times, the settlement will replace all the animals and organic matter laid to waste from the spill and will restore the ocean to the condition it was in prior to the spill will pay up to $7.8 billion in claims. This represents the "upper limit" of the cost of the settlement, because the company contends that it has already paid $8 billion to claimants and another $14 billion on cleanup. BP made over $15 billion in nine months last year. more ›

At a rally in Michigan earlier today, GOP presidential frontrunner Rick Santorum told the crowd the real reason the economy tanked four years ago: "We went into a recession in 2008 because of gasoline prices." According to BuzzFeed, Santorum added, "The bubble burst in housing because people couldn’t pay their mortgages because of $4 a gallon gasoline." In related news, the Iraq War was caused by Social Security, the obesity epidemic is due to Solyndra, and the current unemployment rate? That's Mrs. Santorum's fault. more ›

A gasoline tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel crashed into a minivan and burst into flames last night just after 9 p.m. on the New Jersey Turnpike in Carlstadt. NBC New York reports that the accident occurred near exit 18W in the northbound E-ZPass lane of the Turnpike, and that the tanker caught fire soon after the crash. The ensuing fireball could be seen for miles in the November darkness, but should not be interpreted as some sort of apocalyptic symbolic of America's self-destructive addiction to fossil fuels. Here's video: more ›

Dozens of residents of four West Village apartment buildings were lucky to escape in one piece last night after a gas pipe dating back to 1877 started leaking. Gas fumes seeped into 101 Charles Street shortly after midnight this morning, and firefighters evacuated the building and three others upon arrival. But not all of them were grateful for the assistance. more ›

Well, this is gruesome. For some reason the Brooklyn Paper needed some closure on that whole Canada goose massacre that went down in Prospect Park this summer, so they got their hands on the documents that detailed the extermination. Turns out the 250 or so geese that were sent to the gas chamber from the Brooklyn park were just part of the city-wide slay, which brought 1,676 geese to their deaths. more ›

We've all gone through a childhood pyro phase—kicking around flaming tennis balls, lighting farts, hot footing—and most of us managed to miraculously walk away unscathed. But occasionally you hear about an incident that makes you feel lucky you didn't win that Juvie Darwin Award you so richly deserved. Yesterday afternoon a water balloon, a puddle of gasoline and a lit match almost burned a 10-year-old boy to death in the Rockaways. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] We're getting reports that a possible gas leak and/or explosion has prompted the evacuation of buildings in Brooklyn Heights near Borough Hall and Court Street. According to some reports, at least five manhole covers have blown, and subway stations at Borough Hall and Court Street in Brooklyn have been evacuated and closed. One reader just sent us this email: more ›

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has told the state that "essential environmental protection measures" must be taken before allowing The Chesapeake Energy Corporation to drill for gas within the 2,000- square-mile Catskills watershed that provides drinking water to millions of NYC residents. The EPA's letter to the State Department of Environmental Conservation reinforces criticism of the plan to blast huge volumes of water mixed with chemicals into rock to extract gas. There is worry that the drilling, which creates large amounts of wastewater, could contaminate NYC's water supply. Katherine Nadeau at Environmental Advocates of New York described the federal agency’s letter as “nothing short of awesome.” more ›

About 6,000 gallons of heating fuel leaked out of a tank in the basement of a New York University-owned housing complex yesterday. It's unclear exactly what caused the oil to spill out of the tank — which is a backup system for heating and hot water in NYU's Washington Square Village development at Bleecker and Mercer streets, according to the Daily News. "We are determined to figure out what caused the spill and resolve it," said university spokesman John Beckman. Residents were not evacuated from the buildings, but some complained of fumes from the fuel in hallways and stairways. "You breathe this stuff in for five minutes, you'll get headaches," said Irish studies professor John Waters, 45, who lives on the sixth floor with his wife and daughter. "This is a disaster." more ›

There are many different strategies for ridding your apartment of bed bugs. Experts recommend dry cleaning your clothes and keeping them in sealed plastic bags, and hiring an exterminator. But there's one radical method for battling the parasites that has the FDNY rather alarmed: Some bed bug victims are pouring gasoline or kerosene on their mattresses. The FDNY says that's not only ineffective, but also dangerous, because mattresses really shouldn't be flammable. Yet it appears that Astoria residents are not only gassing up their beds, but their bodies, too. more ›

Environmentalists say they've come up with an unlikely way to keep the city's tap water from becoming polluted: cow manure. Amidst mounting concerns about the impact of upstate natural gas drilling on New York City's water supply, the blog CleanTechnica reports on the burgeoning cow-power movement. more ›

Flush with socialist bailout money, General Motors is now trying to destroy the oil industry with a car that will get 230 miles per gallon in city driving! GM calls it the Chevy Volt and classifies it as an "extended-range vehicle" powered by an electric motor and a battery pack with a 40-mile range. (After that, a small internal combustion engine takes over to generate electricity for a total range of 300 miles.) Toyota’s Prius, the most fuel-efficient hybrid sold in the U.S., gets 48 miles per gallon and looks like a Hummer 3 by comparison. GM CEO Fritz Henderson promises that at the U.S. average cost of electricity (approximately 11 cents per kWh), a typical Volt driver would pay about $2.75 for electricity to travel 100 miles, or less than 3 cents per mile. Of course, big oil still has some time to assassinate Henderson and burn down GM's R&D labs—the first-generation Volt is expected to cost about $40,000, which most consumers might not swallow even if gasoline returns to $4 per gallon. And the E.P.A. still has run its own tests to confirm GM's assertions, but the company says Volt is on schedule to reach showrooms late next year. But whatever happened to the P.U.M.A.!? more ›

Last night, a house in Amityville on Long Island was leveled by an apparent gas explosion. Newsday reports, "The explosion at 34 Meadow Ln., off South Bayview Avenue, blew the first floor of the house to bits, showering the street and nearby houses with glass, wood and metal shards... The second floor then collapsed onto the foundation." Neighbors described it as a fireball. A family of four managed to get out of the house before the explosion--a relative said Rich Brown went to the crawl space, "smelled strong fumes and then grabbed the children and they all got outside just before the house blew up." Brown is grateful that the incident happened during the day, rather than when they were sleeping. more ›

No surprise here, but skyrocketing fuel costs have not spared farmers who sell produce at Greenmarkets, the AP finds. Upstate strawberry grower Franca Tantillo estimates that roughly half the money she earns at a Manhattan Greenmarket is spent on transportation costs. And it’s not just getting back and forth from the city that’s more expensive; fuel costs have driven up the price of fertilizers and animal feed, and plastic supplies for greenhouses cost more. As the costs are passed on to their urban customers, farmers like Elly Hushour, who sells goat cheese that she drives in from her farm in Pennsylvania, predict that "local soon will not be that important.” And maybe Union Square soon will not be that mobbed? more ›

Gas prices have doubled since Mohammed Kalair started driving a cab in New York three years ago, and now it’s looking like he may return to his native Pakistan to enjoy a better standard of living. Though the Taxi and Limousine Commission says drivers still can average a living wage of $12 an hour, other experts say they now net closer to the state minimum-wage of $7.15 per hour. Some are calling for a fuel surcharge of $1 per trip, which has been implemented in other cities. As for Kalair, he tells the Post he’s had to make real tough decisions: "I choose eating, not smoking." more ›

Mayor Bloomberg’s ambitious congestion pricing plan may be toast (or Governor Paterson may bring it back from the dead) but it seems that skyrocketing gas prices are succeeded where Hizzoner failed. The Times is reporting that traffic on the city’s bridges and tunnels dropped 4.7 percent in June, compared to the same time last year. Meanwhile, subway, bus, bicycle and commuter rail ridership has surged. A transportaion consultant predicts that “if we start eclipsing $5 a gallon, which we might over the summer, I think we might get very close,” to reducing traffic in Manhattan by 6.3 percent, which was the goal for Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan. Go peak oil! more ›

The beloved 24-hour French diner Florent will be closing on Saturday with a big send-off, and lines have often been out the door as the end approaches. Today is no exception, as Eater reports, with the restaurant still packed despite the fact that the gas has been shut off. Reached today (his birthday) by phone at his lake house in New Jersey, owner Florent Morellet tells us that the gas was shut off over a week ago so his plumber could do some work, but attempts to get Con Ed to turn it back on have been fruitless. And he's unsure whether there will be gas before Saturday's closing, telling us that "Con Ed is a little bit like old Russia." more ›

Yesterday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average took a 400-point-drop bath, prompted by rising oil prices and higher unemployment numbers, and stirred up more recession fears. more ›

Soaring gas prices have managed to edge gas prices to nearly $4/gallon in the area. At an Exxon station in Queens, WCBS 2 found $3.99/gallon gas, while a White Plains Getty offered it at $3.69/gallon. One White Plains resident said it cost him $55 to fill up his sedan, "I used to pay by cash, now I have to use my credit cards because I don't carry that much cash on me." more ›

The gas main explosion that rocked a home on 48th Ave. and 41st. St. Wedneday––killing one woman and injuring six others––occurred despite what ConEd and FDNY say was them following proper procedures preceding the incident. Kunta Oza, who died at the age of 69, was burned over 90% of her body. In addition to the six others injured in the explosion, 200 people were evacuated from the block until it was deemed safe to return.... more ›