Another Example of NYC’s Oppressive Business Environment – You Need a License to Pump Gas
- Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:09pm by
Mike Opelka
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There are more than 10,000 gas pumps in the five boroughs of New York City, and if you want to work as a pump jockey at any of them, the City of New York demands that you pay a fee and pass a test in order to be considered ‘fit for dispensing motor fuel.’
Adding to the eyebrow-raising portion of this story is the fact that in New York, like most other states the average citizen is permitted to pump their own gas. Self-servers (like you and me) are not required to have a license, but the stations where self-serve is available must have a ‘P-15 licensed’ person on duty when gas is being dispensed.
The people who make their living putting gas into your car are probably not in the highest income tax bracket (if they pay any tax at all), which also makes it more offensive when New York City requires these folks to pay a $25 dollar licensing fee (with a $15 renewal charge every couple of years) in order to earn the minimum wage. And not everyone is eligible to take the test. From the city’s website;
- QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
- 1. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age.
- 2. Applicants must have a reasonable understanding of the English language.
- 3. Applicants must present a letter of recommendation from his/her employer. The letter must be on official letterhead and must state the applicant’s full name, character, physical condition, experience, and address of premises where applicant will be employed.
- 4. Applicants must present two (2) forms of satisfactory identification i.e., driver’s license and passport picture ID.
May I remind you that we are talking about the job of pumping gas, a task that most newly-licensed 16-year-old drivers can perform almost instinctively. And yet the City of New York demands to know about a pump jockey‘s ’character, physical condition, experience’.
Aside from the cost to the individual, there are governmental expenses inherent in managing this kind of operation. The test is given Monday through Friday, which means someone has to be paid to handle the collection of license fees, ID checking, reference letter verification, test administration and grading and then the awarding of the actual license to those achieving a passing grade of ‘70’ or above. As new gas pump technology emerges, the test itself is probably updated on a regular basis, which means the test preparation materials must also be re-written and printed.
The gas pump testing must be popular because there is a company that makes money charging people to prepare them for the multiple-choice exam.
An additional $20 dollars for the ‘study guide?’ At least these folks included the eleven-page FDNY study guide that anyone can download from the web.
Reviewing the city’s laundry-list of licensing fees, it seems strange that the testing/licensing charge for a person operating a Liquified Natural Gas plant is exactly the same as that of the gas station worker.
Is the LNG worker getting a break or is the pump jockey getting ripped off? (Probably both.)
New York City has thousands of people working in jobs that should demand a skilled, licensed workforce for the protection of the worker as well as the consumer. Jobs of this kind might include careers in emergency services like police, fire and EMS, but pumping gas is probably not even in the top fifty.
h/t to J. Ken Feder of Safeguard Services
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Comments (196)
UpstateNYConservative
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:07pmMost states and major cities are teetering on the brink of insolvency. They have no choice but to find reason to charge fees for everything in the strangest of places–all in the guise of ‘protecting’ the public.
One comment above mentioned a license to flip burgers. Well, don’t give them any ideas! Then again, don‘t be surprised if that’s an idea already floating around in some liberal politician’s head. Raising taxes is a pretty unpopular idea any more except on cigarettes, so government has to start requiring licenses and the fees to go with them.
Next thing you know, kids who deliver the morning newspapers will need a license.
Report Post »quicker
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:22pmThis is what you get when you keep electing same old thing in exspeting differant results .No dis repsect to yoiu.
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 8:09pmwhere do kids still deliver newspapers? not around here. mostly older folks like should be retired.
and is this fee for license new or has it been around. It’s been over 20 years since i was in Oregon – but there you weren’t allowed to pump your own gas – it was summer and where we stopped there was a teenager filling our tank.
Report Post »independentvoteril
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:07pmHere in IL we can’t find a gas station that still PUMPS gas for you.. you have to do it yourself.. Know how many JOBS were lost with that one??
Report Post »quicker
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:00pmJust wait till we have to pay the mileage tax.God when will these people get a clue .Those that are in office and them that elected them.
Report Post »16Tons
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:57pmNew York should get real inventive, and include this test as part of the Driver’s License Exam Then they could get those fees from every driver in the state including the sixteen year olds, and throw in a background check for good measure.The sixteen year oldds could bring a note from their mothers. Anybody pumping diesel fuel will naturally fall under suspicion; especially if they pull into the station pulling a trailer full of fertilizer.
Report Post »quicker
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:54pmAnother good reason I moved to Texas .
Report Post »TammyMcc
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:50pmCOMMON SENSE is GONE! Beauracracy at its best!
Report Post »Cold War Vet
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:48pmNext, New York will require a special license to flip hamburgers and wash dishes…
Just more stupid, thieving bureaucracy. Waste our time and money while raping and pillaging freedom.
Report Post »lobo2525
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:48pmNew Jersery you are not allowed to pump your own gas.
Report Post »The_Plumber_Says
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:47pmYou got to laugh at this one.
Report Post »Coming to a liberal run city near you
tomloy
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:37pmYet another reason not to live in new york city…..
Report Post »NoStoppingUs
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:37pmKeep voting democrat!
Report Post »Sinista MACE
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:37pmDurrrr..kin ah get a lysinse to wosh ur windas?
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:31pmLet them practice replacing the nozzle on the politicians that write these bills!
And BTW what happened with Harry Reid. They still have his picture on Drudge. Might be time to call it a day Harry and give America a break! :)
Report Post »garylee123
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:30pmAh tooks mah tests and ah scores a 71. Cans ah pump you gas?
Report Post »PHINEAS T. BLUSTER
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:30pmI pumped gas the summer of 1964 as a 14 year old for min wage. Guess what, I could check oil and water levels too. And we cleaned the windshield in those days as well. I was a child genius ! Is there gonna be a test for windshield cleaning in N.Y. also ? Just another reason to leave N.Y., and another nail in the coffin in the demise of America as it once was. R.I.P.
Report Post »Marengo Ohio Patriot
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:56pmGood job. You just gave them another idea!
Report Post »PavZilla
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:03pmSqueegee dude taxation … dayum skippy!
Report Post »lynnissmart
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 6:30pmLove your name!
Report Post »Aaron in Polk County
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:26pmThe only requirement New York state cares about is the $25 per applicant.
Report Post »Marylou7
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:58pmI personally think they are racially profiling. Why else would they want 2 forms of ID (which Obama didn’t even have to provide) and they have to speak reasonable English. Could it be they are trying to round up illegals. We know progressives have no real use for anyone but themselves.
Report Post »TreeTrimmerJim
Posted on May 22, 2011 at 12:36amTwenty five for the license. How much for creating, administrating, office space support, supplies procurement and retirement of those folks?
My bet it costs the city more for the license than it costs the person buying the license.
Report Post »JohnQTaxpayer
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:25pmCould this be New York State in the not to distant future…….
The Federal government today has declared New York State a “Dead State” there is no economic activity to sustain the state for the foreseeable or long-term future. After four bankruptcies, no state owned assets that have not been mortgaged several times, and no significant population of taxpayers can be found anywhere. New York is officially declared “Dead “and is now is an “enter at your own risk” state.
It started long ago with the one party majority rule for many years. The users of tax payer dollars have grown so large in numbers they outnumbered the taxpayers and took control of the government thru the elections. The taxpayers that remained in NYS lost all representation in all levels of government. Taxation grew to inhumane levels in the following years; most taxpayers had to flee NY.
You the reader, ask how does this happen? New York has long been known as the Welfare capitol of the world. New York governments invited people to come here for welfare, from everywhere. New York State had paid for advertisements in other states and countries. New York was and is known thru out the Eastern United States and the Caribbean as the welfare utopia. New York built it and they came. The famous quote from Karl Marx “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” became the unwritten state motto. The consumers of tax dollars have been growing out of control ever sinc
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 3:34pmJohn
Report Post »WE in CT are not far behind NY. Now we have a new Governor that is RAISING TAXES. His PUBLIC UNION GIVE BACK is a sham as these leeches will never , never give back anything. Can’t wait to FLEE this Cesspool
jose wasabi
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:25pmOne right, one freedom at a time. Like the frog in a pot of cold water on the stove, by the time he realizes it’s boiling, it’s too late.
Report Post »Tennessee Veteran
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:23pmHow in the world did these people miss requiring political party affiliation and voting record as a prerequisite to become a gas jockey? Don’t these same people cry loudly when picture ID for voting is suggested?
Report Post »NoStoppingUs
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:49pmRequiring a voter to show picture ID at the polls is voter suppression. It’s oppressive to women, children and minorities, of course.
Report Post »Tennessee Veteran
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:17pm@nostoppingus
People (men and women including minorities) drive to a polling station with a driver’s license displaying their photo. What’s so hard about pulling it out and showing it with a voter regristration card? Children can’t vote or drive but should have some sort of identification (preferrably with a photo). That leaves those adults (including seniors) who do not drive. Most, if not all, states have provisions to obtain a picture ID for identification purposes. It’s not THAT difficult to maintain a photo ID.
Report Post »teachermitch32
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:57pm@NOSTOPPINGUS,
That is the point. There are those who, for whatever reason (felons, illegals, etc.) need to have their voting stopped, hence photo ID. I have no problem at all with it.
BTW, if granny down the street needs photo ID I would gladly run her around to where she needs to get one, well before the election. I think there are alot of other Americans who would be willing to this as well if it meant suppressing the illegal vote.
Report Post »ivdad
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:22pmAnother reason to never visit New York. The next thing will be a tourist visa for US citizens. Illegals don’t need one.
Report Post »scjeff
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:21pm$25 for a gas pumping license today versus $24 in trinkets to buy Manhattan way back when. Sensible it ain’t.
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:19pmHow much should we pay to read this article ?
Report Post »ivdad
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:24pmYou pay nothing to read the article. However if you are from New York, it is fifteen cents a word. Fifty cents more if there are pictures.
Report Post »awiderview
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:17pmBecause this is such a big deal, I get to be first. Hmmm, what can I say? This is horrible. Somebody needs to be impeached. There, I said it!
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:41pmIs this Elizabeth Ann Rogers?
Report Post »StevenL1955
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:14pmTo all liberals, bite my as_s
Report Post »Professional Infidel
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:52pmi’m in line behind you, with the same dictate!
Report Post »Marengo Ohio Patriot
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:52pmBe careful what you wish for Steven. They will chop on the side that has your wallet!
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:59pmThis is the communists and socialists coming fully into the light now; they must feel their agendas are so far in the dirt and solidly anchored, that there is nothing we can do to stop their takeover. Yet they are in the wrong.
Like my grandfather used to say, find a stubborn nail to hammer, then use a bigger hammer.
Report Post »booger71
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:13pmAs* biters need to have a license and have had rabies shots
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:11pmLand of the free???????????????????? not likely!!!!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:17pmYou mean they still have full service gas stations??
Report Post »Are these UNION workers???
biohazard23
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:21pm@VENNOYE, amen to that!!
BTW, I like your avatar! Is that a Sheltie I see?!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:21pmLOL .. what’s the test? I would love to see this “test” .. since even my mother could pump gas (and she was not “handy” at all!).
Report Post »Cobra Blue
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:22pmDoes this really surpirse anyone who is paying attention. General Observation: Have you noticed that all the crazy, liberal Progressive news has become just common place. When you see another news story you are surprised…as a matter of fact we have come to expect it from the other side. In the process we have all sorta become desensitized to it all. Overwhelming the syatem…Heard that phrase anywhere before? Just do a reality check and I think you will agree.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:23pmMost stations will pump gas for the handicapped .. I would think it would be all but not certain on that. Drivers who use wheelchairs and the like.
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:28pmWhy, oh why, do the people in NYC put up with all this? They keep electing the same oppresive politicians who keep screwing them. Are they really that stupid or do they just make so much money it doesn’t matter? Please explain.
Report Post »vennoye
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:41pm@biohazard23
Report Post »Yes, that is my latest Sheltie. I had my first one for 15 years before I had to have her put to sleep….nearly as long as your children are at home!! They are great dogs!! Grandaughter named her Princess…….better name would have been commoner!! :-)
Robert-CA
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:47pmBANJARMON
Report Post »Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:17pm
You mean they still have full service gas stations??
Are these UNION workers???
________________________________
I’m sure that the union will take advantage of this & turn all the gas stations into full service with union workers .
& how about a union strike @ the pump if they don’t get pensions .
Capt.America
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:48pmI hate to see the price per gallon at these filling stations! This is crazy!!!!!
Report Post »coladude
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:49pmSo many stupid regulations.
http://politicalbowl.com – Political Videos
Report Post »Marengo Ohio Patriot
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:50pmWell, NY is going broke!!! How else do you maintain a socialist society?
Report Post »gramma b
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:50pmThey must have had too many tragedies like the gas station scene in Zoolander.
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:51pmAh Lord — deliver us fm mindless bureaucrats intent on strangling us all!
Report Post »Professional Infidel
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:54pmI got a license that says I don’t need a license. How about a license to pump ethel.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 12:56pmIt seems the big apple should now change its name from Ney York City to that of Now Your Communist’s city; for that is exactly what they have now become, with the government taking control over just about every aspect of their lives.
So what is next? Determining by force who you shall marry and have children with? Sealing their own state borders so the residents cannot flee to freer states in the union?
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:07pmThis is so insane that I will make it a POINT to stay out of New York City!
Report Post »@ Coyote2
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:40pmYou can bet some jew is getting a husky cut of this!
Report Post »QC Ghost
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:44pmBut there’s no requirements to run for NYC Mayor?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 1:49pm@Grandmaof5:
Why do the people of NYC keep voting for these same progressives as who take control over such little parts of their lives daily? I wish we could find the answers and work on stopping it from occuring in the rest of the nation.
Hope all is good today for you and the kitties, at least people in Florida are not regulated at the pump like these stations in NYC are.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:04pmBut you dont need a license or a brain to be a politician…
Report Post »HappyStretchedThin
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:10pmI would take the test, but I don’t have my NYC test-taking licence…
Report Post »Beandawg
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:13pmThis is about revenue, not safety. When will the insanity stop?
Report Post »Cemoto78
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:14pmSeems odd; 4. Applicants must present two (2) forms of satisfactory identification i.e., driver’s license and passport picture ID. But you don’t need this much identification in most states to vote. Am I missing something here?
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:29pmCEMOTO78
Report Post »Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:14pm
Seems odd; 4. Applicants must present two (2) forms of satisfactory identification i.e., driver’s license and passport picture ID. But you don’t need this much identification in most states to vote. Am I missing something here?
________________________
They don‘t wanna loose the illegal’s vote .
mrclean
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:34pmOK— so a 16 yr old needs to present a passport picture ID????
What average 16 yr old has a passport?
All this BS for a stinking minimum wage job and my mother pumped her own gas until age 89.
Stupido bureaocrats are regulating us right out of existence.
@PROFESSIONAL INFIDEL
Report Post »Funny!!
biohazard23
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:35pm@VENNOYE,
We have 2 sable Sheltie boys. Our old guy is 4 and our youngster is 8 months. They’re uncle and nephew. We love our little guys! I had a tri-color boy a few years ago, but I had to put him down when he was 5 due to pancreatic cancer. I love your Princess, though. I’m sure Mr Fluffy Butt and Max would LOVE to chase her in a doggy park sometime! :)
Report Post »JD Carp
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:37pmI owned a gas station in NYC. you need a permit for an air compressor, there’s a tax on large windows and all sorts of permits depending on what service work you might want to do. Every year a state inspector comes by and checks your pumps for accuracy and your air compressor for safety and they charge for that too. I sold it and moved to Georgia and never looked back. Oh and don’t forget federal, state and CITY income taxes!
Report Post »sooner12
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 2:59pmNew York is just as bad as LA. What’s wrong with these people? How can these politicians live with themselves coming up with these absurd fees, taxes and licensing requirements?
Report Post »QuietTexan
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 3:18pmThis is not all that new. In California or Oregon, as I was traveling through it took forever to get gas as everyone had to wait for a station employee to pump it. Customers were not allowed by state law to pump their own.
Report Post »SheriS
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 3:51pmGood reason to ignore there is a state called New York City! Have never been there and have absolutely no desire to go there! Have been to the state but only the northwest corner which is beautiful, but have no reason to go back! The whole state seems to tax any and everything you do–well hope you New Yorkers with the happy state you find yourself in!
Report Post »donottreadonme
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 4:00pmYou mean the land of the fee.
Report Post »101
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 4:50pmBO’s job creation “pump jockey‘s” required. WTF…flipping burgers is starting to sound better every day until they come up with a “Burger Jockey” requirement.
No birth certificate required starting pay $6.50 an hour…slavery in America is thriving !
Report Post »Elena2010
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 5:11pm@@ Coyote2 — We don’t need antisemitic slurs. Be kind or go away.
Report Post »restorehope
Posted on May 21, 2011 at 10:23pmIt continues to be all about control. Yet another little facet of an ordinary life that they can monitor. Piece by piece, the progressives will chip away at individual freedoms and force us to do it THEIR WAY.
Report Post »@ Coyote2
Posted on May 22, 2011 at 12:00amNext thing you know, illegal drug pushers will need a license.
Report Post »MHP
Posted on May 22, 2011 at 12:29ambanjarmon
In Oregon they do, there are very few places where you can self serve.
Most places have to have someone pumping the gas.
It’s higher prices, and it’s to provide people jobs.
Union? probably so.
Report Post »tbear44
Posted on May 22, 2011 at 4:14amThat’s more requirements than B.O. had to meet to become president.
Report Post »Polwatcher
Posted on May 22, 2011 at 5:17amBureauvrats with nothing more to do but to make stupid laws.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on May 22, 2011 at 11:27amLiberal Marxist’s … in New York and San Fran … free yer minds, shoot ‘em all!
Liberal Marxism is the enemy of freedom. Always has been, always will be!
Report Post »standwithIsraelstandwithGod
Posted on May 22, 2011 at 2:53pmLook to these liberal communist states to see what future they plan to impose on your everyday life.
Report Post »father of 2 from NJ
Posted on May 22, 2011 at 10:07pmThere are a number of stations that have full service islands as well as self serve but here’s the fun part the full serve is $.10-$.25 more per gallon and at night when there are no attendants working all they leave on are the full serve pumps which are set up at the higher rate.
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on May 23, 2011 at 2:35pm.
Union gas pumpers. Tell me why anyone is in NYC?
Me: “Fill ‘er up.”
Report Post »Them: “Look pal, you gotta wait, I’m on break.”
Me: “Never mind, I’ll do it myself.”
Them: “See this crowbar? You touch that nozzle and I’ll bust your headlights.”