Pension payments to 21,170 retirees of the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS) during fiscal year 2025 were added today to SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website. The data primarily cover school support staff and administrative personnel.
The BERS paid a total of $351 million in pension payments during FY2025, at an average of $16,614 for each retiree. 100 retirees received six-figure pension payments; seven retirees received more than $200,000.
The highest payment of $567, 425 went to Elizabeth Nieves, who retired from the Department of Education in 2006 with a service credit of 24.29 years. The next highest payments went to:
- Carmen Leon, Department of Education, $439,889;
- Ivy Richards, Department of Education, $402,536;
- Paulette Morrissette, Department of Education, $223,884;
- Elda Rodriguez, Department of Education, $219,954
In addition to regular pensions, the payments also include one-time lump payouts made during the fiscal year.
Newly retired members—those retiring between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, and collecting their first full-year pension in FY2025—included 436 “full career” individuals with 20 or more years of service credit. The average “full career” new retiree pension was $33,713. Among them, seven received more than $100,000 in pensions.
The BERS data includes retirees from of the New York City Department of Education (DOE) who are not eligible to join the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS). This includes school lunch helpers, school nurses, school custodians, substitute teachers, and many other job titles. BERS also provides coverage to employees of the School Construction Authority, School Crossing Guards employed by the NYPD, certain charter school employees, and BERS employees.
The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, not-for-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies that can make New York a better place to live, work and raise a family.
You may also like
Switching to Electric Home Heating Could Add Thousands to Energy Bills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ALBANY, N.Y. that heating an average home from October to March would cost approximately $790 with natural gas, compared with $1,100 with a heat pump and $3,300 with electr Read More
Poll: 64% of New Yorkers Back Eliminating the State Income Tax; 67% Say State Taxes Aren’t Delivering
Dissatisfaction spans party and regional lines as broad majorities rally behind sweeping tax reform
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: ALBANY, N.Y. - New Yorkers are delivering a blunt assessment of the state’s tax system: 67% say they ar Read More
SUNY Research Foundation Payroll Tops $400 Million
Payroll records for 8,401 employees of the Research Foundation for the State University of New York (RF SUNY) for fiscal year 2026 are , the Empire Center's government transparency website.
The Research Foundation is a private, nonprofit educational co Read More
Newly Retired NYC Firefighters Average Over $177k In Pensions
New York City firefighters and fire officers retiring last year after full careers were entitled to average annual pension benefits of $177,016, according to , the Empire Center's government transparency website.
Among the 499 new retirees with at leas Read More
New York Annual Household Electricity Costs Rise $270
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s average residential electricity price reached 29.90 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in July 2026, the fifth highest in the nation and 63.3 percent Read More
Taxes, the Cost of Living, and Feeling Ignored: Why New Yorkers Are Thinking of Leaving
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ALBANY, N.Y. - New Yorkers across the political spectrum are considering leaving the state. A new finds that Republicans and independent voters most often cite taxes as the reason, while Dem Read More
Albany Steers Nearly $100 Million in 2026 Pork Barrel Spending
Albany steered $97.2 million to 206 local projects during the first half of 2026 in the newest batch of state discretionary grants, according to. The new tranche is the latest addition to the pork-barrel grant database the Empire Center h Read More
New York’s Electricity Prices Fifth Highest in the Country
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ALBANY, N.Y. — Empire Center’s shows New York households paid the fifth‑highest residential electricity prices in the country in June 2026, trailing only Hawaii, California Read More