The number of retired New York City educators who received pensions over $200,000 continues to grow, reaching 117 last year. This represents a ten-fold increase from a decade ago, according to data posted today at SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s government transparency website.
Among the system’s newest 4,055 pensioners in the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System (NYCTRS) who retired during 2021, the top five pension recipients were:
- Arthur Lynch, Psychology Professor at City College New York, $474,656;
- Bernice Fleischer, Assistant Principal at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, $442,172;
- Victor Franco, Physics Professor at Brooklyn College, $349,966;
- Frances Novella Locurcio, Principal of PS 209, $329,354;
- Darlene Miller, Principal of NYC Museum School, $306,326;
Among all retirees, who include teachers, college instructors and school administrators, City University of New York (CUNY) retirees were most likely to collect six-figure pensions. Of the 2,404 CUNY retirees, 302 — about one in eight — received pensions payments of $100,000 or more, including 28 of the top 100 pensions paid by the system.
Edgar McManus, former Professor of History at CUNY’s Queens College, regained his position as the recipient of the single largest payout, receiving $562,691. Since his 2012 retirement, he has topped the list every year, except in 2021.
The pension amounts include benefits from optional investment programs that can provide taxpayer-guaranteed returns of as much as 8.25 percent. Among the 1,249 teachers, college instructors, and school administrators who retired in 2021 with at least 30 years of service credit and received a full year of pension benefits in 2022, the average pension received was $72,619.
The data are available thanks to the Empire Center’s legal efforts, which took four years and led to the state Court of Appeals decision in Teachers Retirement Systems.
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.
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