THE ‘COME’ BEFORE THE STORM: Last-minute shoppers wait to stock up at Trader Joe’s on East 14th Street yesterday, as a Key Food (above) in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, resembles a Black Friday sale, all in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. (Theodore Parisienne)
THE ‘COME’ BEFORE THE STORM: Last-minute shoppers wait to stock up (above) at Trader Joe’s on East 14th Street yesterday, as a Key Food (inset) in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, resembles a Black Friday sale, all in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. (Helayne Seidman; Theodore Parisienne)
Long lines for batteries and bottled water had some New York stores looking like trendy nightclubs yesterday, but without the velvet ropes.
In some spots, shoppers were let in 10 at a time, only to find the store shelves bare.
Realtor Jonathan Flaherty, 34, was lucky enough to find some bottled water at the Fairway supermarket in Red Hook.
“Normally I go out or have delivery, but for something like this you have to go grocery shopping,” Flaherty said.
“It’s a madhouse. But we’re the idiots who are here Sunday afternoon. You pay the price.”
Erica Lee, 35, bought six gallons of water just in case.
“We usually don’t take these things seriously, but this seems to be real,” Lee said. “We’re members of the coop in Park Slope, and we’ve never seen a line like that before, so we came here. Plus they don’t sell water bottles there.”
At Trader Joe’s on the Upper West Side, a line snaked around the block — filled with people stocking up on staples like rice, beans and toilet paper.
Many in line also had bags from other nearby stores: Fairway, Zabar’s, Citarella and Westside Market.
“During Hurricane Irene, I got an old man who lives downstairs a five-gallon jug of water,” said Rosario Isabel of Washington Heights. “I asked him if he needed me to get him any this time, and he showed me the jug from last year in his closet.”
Azucena Vergara, 35, stocked up for the three adults and six children who live with her in Sunset Park. Vergara bought four cases of bottled water (30 bottles to a case), seven dozen eggs, 12 rolls of paper towels, four gallons of milk, 24 cans of tuna and 24 cans of corn.
“It’s just in case,” Vergara said. “Last year [with Irene] nothing happened. You never know.”
Some last-minute shoppers stopped to buy gas on their way to the supermarket.
“This is my last chore, to get gas,” said Xenia Zenaus as she filled up at an Exxon station on Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont, LI. “I’m ready. I got water, food and a generator, and I don’t want to have a car on empty.”
Beyond the pump, a line outside the station backed up traffic nearly to the Cross Island Parkway a mile away.
“I don’t know what will be open tomorrow, so I’m filling up here,” said Lenny Howe, 57, a contractor. “This storm sounds serious, so I want to be smart.”
Additional reporting by C.J. Sullivan