TROY, N.Y. -- Auto body shop owner Walter Karayan said, "I just can't hang on anymore. I can't blame my customers. They simply don't have the money."
Karayan has been running a body shop for 30 years. Business has been slow before, but never like this.
"My customers can't pay that much for gas," he said. "They can't do it. They're hardly paying their rent right now. How are they going to come up with gas money?"
As gas prices seem to rise by the hour these days, the negative side effects, on everything else besides our wallets, are becoming clearer.
Skyrocketing gas prices are hurting more than just drivers' wallets.
An area auto body shop owner said his business has slowed to the point he may be driven out of business. Ryan Peterson reports from Troy.
Karayan said, "Usually my parking lot across the street is filled with cars. I can feel it. I know it's coming. I might just go bankrupt in the next few months. This is a serious situation."
Karayan said it's time for legislators to do something before it's too late.
"Joe Bruno. McNulty, before he gets out of office, do something. Help us. You can't just close one eye and hope it gets better," said Karayan.
He fears for the worst. If prices continue to rise through the summer, Karayan's worried that his doors will close in a matter of months.
"I don't think it's a year. I don't think it will take a year. I was thinking of putting a for sale sign on one of my properties across the street," he said.
Most analysts will tell you the current spike in prices is due to the switch-over from winter to summer blends of gasoline. But as the price of oil keeps breaking records, roaring toward $120 a barrel, relief is far from around the corner.