Police represent most new six-figure pensions in New York

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — According to SeeThroughNY, of the newest retirees in New York’s State and Local Retirement System eligible for pensions over $100,000, the majority are retired police officers.

Pension data was uploaded to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center for Public Policy’s transparency website, for 441,095 members of the retirement system on Thursday.

Out of 702 who retired in 2019, at least 362 are six-figure pensioners previously employed by state police, a local department, or the Port Authority. The Empire Center says:

• 235 six-figure pensions—over one-third of new pensions—went to retired Long Island officers
• 29 new and existing retirees are eligible for pensions over $200,000 in 2020
• The single-largest new pension in 2019—$201,468—went to a Port Authority officer

The Empire Center first publicized its list of pensioners and pension values in 2010. According to their accounting, at that time, the New York State and Local Retirement System had 1,378 pensions worth over $100,000. At the end of 2015, there were 2,931 eligible pensioners at that level. In 2020, there will be 6,178.

The Empire Center says the recipients and amounts of the New York City Police Pension Fund are not publicly available.

The Albany-based Empire Center is an independent, nonprofit think-tank usually focused on economic policy. Although the Empire Center describes itself as nonpartisan, watchdog groups generally classify it as a conservative-leaning organization.

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