The New York City Employee Retirement System (NYCERS) must provide the Empire Center with names and amounts of pensions paid to retired New York City uniformed employees, such as corrections officers, a Kings County Supreme Court judge ruled today.
“If taxpayers are responsible for funding pensions, then the taxpayers deserve to see what they are,” said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center. “The Empire Center will continue to take on and win these fights as long as people are trying to hide this type of data from the public.”
The Empire Center sued to obtain the data last year after the system refused to properly follow the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and instead moved to conceal the pensions from the public.
Hoefer pointed to the recent New York Daily News stories about disability pension abuse as proof of the importance of letting New Yorkers examine the public pension rolls.
The ruling marks the fourth consecutive court win for the Empire Center in two years, which was victorious in Freedom of Information Law cases involving the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), the NYC Fire Department Pension Fund and the New York City and New York State Teachers’ Retirement Systems.
The Empire Center, based in Albany, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan think tank dedicated to promoting policies to make New York a better place to live, work and do business.
You may also like
NYC Fire Pensions Hit New High
New York City firefighters and fire officers retiring last year after full careers were entitled to , up 11 percent from the prior year, according to new data added to SeeThroughNY, the Empire Read More
$5.5 Billion NYCERS Pension Payments Include $70 Million in Back Pay
The pension plan covering most New York city government agencies, including the City’s subway system, had 47 members with pension payments of at least $200,00 last year, 11 more than in 2021, according to Read More
Six-figure NYSLRS pensions quadruple in ten years
The number of New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) retirees eligible for six-figure pensions quadrupled over the last seven years. Read More
Average Pay Spiked at Port Authority in 2021
Average pay for Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) employees increased nearly 10 percent last year, to $123,000. Read More
Over 700 MTA Employees Earned More in OT than Regular Pay in 2021, Data Show
More than 300 employees were paid at least $100,000 in overtime and at least 734 earned more in overtime than in regular pay at the MTA last year Read More
Legislative Spending Unevenly Divided Among Members
Spending by state lawmakers on office personnel and administrative costs varies widely, with some paying out nearly twice as much as others Read More
State OT, Salaries Up in 2021
Overtime pay for state employees rose to nearly $1 billion, and salaries increased by six percent during the 2021 calendar year, according to data posted today to SeeThroughNY.net Read More
Public School Retiree Pensions Set New Record
Average pension benefits for newly retired public educators outside New York City reached a record high last year Read More