To the Editor,
It is hilarious to read a letter by Larry Penner urging MTA CEO Janno Lieber when discussing congestion pricing to “just stick to the facts.”
Nine out of 10 of Mr. Penner’s opinion pieces contradict each other — sometimes contradict themselves within themselves — are filled with half truths, contain a multitude of facts if he’s against something and no facts if he’s in favor of it, and demonstrate how he often doesn’t do his homework before pounding out his next opinion piece. He’s one project because of the new telecommuting, yet in favor of a multi-billion dollar downtown Flushing Intermodal Bus Terminal. One of his criticisms of the new Grand Central Madison is a lack of newsstands for commuters to buy newspapers or magazines. If he paid half as much attention on any commute as he does to cranking out opinion pieces he’d realize that 99% of the commuters are buried in laptops, cell phones or tablets.
But most hilarious of all: the author has for years been criticizing whatever public figure he can for congestion pricing being stalled and how the sky is falling for the MTA’s financial condition without congestion pricing. Yet in a September 2022 opinion piece in “The Island 360,” he is suddenly against congestion pricing.
No one is more fact-challenged than Larry Penner. But I urge my Bronx neighbors not to take my word for it. Read Mr. Penner’s opinion pieces in “Mass Transit” magazine and “The Island 360.”
Nat Weiner
