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Posted on 10/07/2003 10:21:10 AM PDT by presidio9
Penny Crone - whose gravelly voice, brassy style and unabashed rooting for the Yankees made her one of the city's most recognizable TV personalities - has been cut loose by WCBS/Ch. 2. "I'm devastated," Crone told the Daily News yesterday. "I feel like I've been part of New York all my life."
"I'm a personality," said Crone, who was selected in a recent News survey as the correspondent we most love to hate. "I stand out, my deep voice, my short hair."
Crone was told Friday that she was no longer needed, and that the station decided not to pick up her contract option. She joined Channel 2 in January 2002, after a 14-year run at WNYW/Ch. 5.
At 56, she might be the oldest female correspondent working in the field at any local station.
Since breaking into television journalism in the '70s, Crone has been a staple of the broadcast scene with her in-your-face style and everyman approach to television. That style, however, often wonas many detractors as it didfans.
She gravitated to the blue-collar crowd and reveled in stories about firefighters and cops.
"I can do that until I die," Crone said. "You don't see me down at City Hall."
Ironically, Crone, who often wore her Yankees cap while giving reports on the team, was dropped just as the Bronx Bombers moved on in the playoffs.
"I don't know what I want to do now," Crone said. "I'd love to stay on the air and be a reporter."
Crone's departure comes at a time when a handful of other high-profile, seasoned women have been moved out of longtime slots.
In July, Jane Hanson gave up her morning anchor gig at WNBC/Ch. 4 to work on stories for the station's other newscasts. WABC/Ch. 7 shifted Diana Williams from its 11 p.m. newscast to the 5 p.m. show. And Channel 4 dropped Michele Marsh.
"I don't know if seasoned reporters are appreciated," Crone said. "It's become big business. I left [Channel 5] on my own. I lost so many friends on 9/11, I needed a change. It was a big mistake, I guess."
My favorite Crone moment was when she cried because Howard Stern pointed at her. I don't even remember why she was covering Howard Stern that day, but all he did was point at her and she started blubbering.
He apologized (laughingly) and asked her why she was crying, and she answered "I just don't like being pointed at!"
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I mean watching another blow dried himbo reporting on the opening day at Coney Island just had no appeal.
But watching Penny screech through her report, while getting taunted by loudmouth guidos to the point where she'd lose her train of thought and get all flustered - man, that was entertainment. Well, as entertaining as local news can get.
Her voice is grating, and she's much easier on the eyes.
Yeah, I'm "deeply saddened" to see her go /sarcasm.
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