A state appellate court on Tuesday rejected the appeal of a fiscal policy group that has sought to obtain the names of retired New York City police officers and the pension benefits they collect.

In a tersely worded, unanimous ruling, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court in Manhattan sided with a lower court, ruling the city fund does not have to make that information public.

The Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative fiscal watchdog group, submitted a Freedom of Information Law request to the pension fund in January 2010, asking for a list all retired members of the fund, including names, gross annual benefits over several years and their retirement dates.

The fund refused to comply with the request, a departure from the disclosure policy of other systems, including funds covering police officers outside the city.

A Manhattan Supreme Court justice ruled against the Empire Center in December, citing a 1983 ruling that exempted the names of pension beneficiaries and their addresses from disclosure. The Empire Center argued its case was different: it wasn’t seeking addresses, and it wanted the names of just pensioners, not beneficiaries, which are defined separately under the law.

“If allowed to stand, this decision will be a massive blow to open government and transparency in New York,” said Timothy Hoefer, director of the Empire Center. Hoefer said the group would ask the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, to hear the case.

“The Court properly held that the names and addresses of retirees of the New York City Police Department receiving pensions and annuities are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law,” said Elizabeth Freedman, a senior counsel for the New York City Law Department, which represented the police pension fund…..

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