To the Editor,
Larry Penner’s opinion piece about a City Island Ferry is almost too bizarre for words.
City Island’s geography is basically one long main street (City Island Avenue) — approximately a mile and a half long — with numerous small residential side streets running one to three blocks perpendicular on either side, not unlike a fish’s skeleton. The only logical place to put a terminal is at the very end of City Island Avenue. Anyone who lives near the beginning would have to take a bus to the end or drive and hope miraculously to find a parking spot.
Mr. Penner makes no mention what the cost of a City Island Ferry would be. There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch, or a free ferry. Since Mr. Penner is in favor of this project, pesky details that matter when he is against something do not.
Larry Penner does not live in the Bronx. He does not know the Bronx. He previously hailed the ferry serving Ferry Point and Clason Point as a great moment in transportation. Although both serve a relative handful of people, Ferry Point is at least accessible by car, while Clason Point is accessible by car and bus.
City Island is in the middle of nowhere. Miles away from both the nearest subway and the various parkway/expressway exits that serve it. The author says a ferry stop in City Island could benefit “many” Bronx residents. Per Wikipedia, the 2010 census reveals a City Island population of 4,362, which likely has not increased or decreased by more than 10%. How can it possibly benefit “many” Bronx residents?
But of course, Larry Penner never lets the facts get in the way of his need to see his name in print. I don’t know which is scarier: that he managed my tax money for 31 years, or the press treats any missive from him as coming down from The Burning Bush.
Nat Weiner
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