(MCT) NEW YORK — Leslie Martin was never so happy to be odd. If only she’d known how to pump her own gas on the first day of rationing in New York and suburban Long Island.

Still, Martin made do early Friday after waiting for hours in line as the state tries to manage the gasoline shortage resulting from station closures and fuel delivery problems in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Because Friday, Nov. 9, is an odd number, only people like Martin, driving cars with license plates ending in odd numbers or characters, were allowed at the pumps.