Power corrupts — even the electrical kind.
While most of the city was awash in tales of selflessness and generosity in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, some residents who didn’t lose electricity were trying to cash in on their good fortune in.
There were 39 postings on Craigslist yesterday morning by people offering places to stay for big bucks.
One posting offered a one-bedroom apartment for the night at ast 88th Street and York Avenue — for a “mere” $700 a night.
“Escape the hurricane in a luxury 1-BR with full power and Internet,” the ad said. “Stay in style and comfort until the power comes back on.”
Area hotels, which saw a surge in business from storm refugees and would-be marathoners, were charging top dollar, as well.
The Red Carpet Inn in Bushwick, which typically charges $99 for a Friday night, was renting rooms for $500 a pop via hotels.com — about the same price as a room at the Waldorf-Astoria.
A woman and her fiancé who were displaced from their 34th-floor apartment at 24th and Sixth were lucky enough to score a room at the New York Palace Hotel in Midtown.
The couple, who asked not to be identified by name, told The Post they were grateful because every other hotel they called was booked — but were unhappy about the $600-a-night price tag. That’s over $100 more than a room there usually costs.
A manager acknowledged to The Post that such rooms normally go for $489, but insisted, “We aren’t charging them extra. It’s just because of the hurricane we had high occupancy, and when we have high occupancy, the rates go up.”
Not everyone was looking to cash in for big bucks. Despite some exorbitant listings, there were also good deals to be found on Craigslist from big-hearted New Yorkers opening their homes to storm victims.
One was offering a room in her three-bedroom in Astoria for $65 a night, while another, on West 102nd Street, was offering to share her 380-square-foot studio for $350 a week.
The return of power to lower Manhattan and the cancellation of the marathon were quickly evident on travel Web sites. Hotels in Midtown that had been fully booked were suddenly offering rooms at close to regular rates.
Earlier in the day, visitors to travel sites looking for rooms in the Big Apple were being referred to hotels in New Jersey.