Public patience ticking as many await power in Northeast US

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­Frustration with continuing power outages, travel chaos, and long lines for gasoline grew on Saturday as residents of New York’s Long Island, hit hard by Superstorm Sandy, protested outside the headquarters of the local utility company. Residents took to the streets for a second day, targeting the Long Island Power Authority in Hicksville. There were still over a quarter of a million customers without power nearly two weeks after the storm. As of Friday more than 170,000 of those were on Long Island. Thousands were in temporary shelters, and in New Jersey a tent city on the edge of Monmouth Park racetrack was home to hundreds. Authorities in the region said they did not have access to enough alternative housing or hotel rooms for all those who have been displaced. New Yorkers also faced their second day of gasoline rationing under a system, which was introduced in New Jersey last week, in which cars with odd- and even-numbered license plates can fill up only on alternate days.