Palin: "Absurd" Not To Consider 2012 Run
Wall Street Throwing More Money at Republicans
Paterson Bombshell Rumor Watch: Resignation Imminent?
Paterson "Bombshell" Just PG-13?
More Bald Eagles Spotted In Harlem!
Deputy Mayor Ed Sklyer warned that the city's pension costs threaten the city's financial health. According to the NY Post, he told the Citizens Budget Commission, "Defined benefit plans such as what the city has were designed in an earlier generation and are not only obsolete but unaffordable. The private companies that have them, such as GM, are facing bankruptcy and bailouts. The city will be in the same position if we don't get these costs under control." Because of rising pension and health benefit costs, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson support a bill that would ask city employees to work for at least 25 years (instead of the current 20) and retire at a minimum age of 50 before reciving pensions. The Post notes, "Uniformed employees, such as cops, can now cash out at any age after serving 20 years," and a previous Post editorial said currently, "10,381 retired police officers under the age of 50 are collecting pensions that average $43,000 -- plus an annual "Christmas bonus" of $12,000 each.
Deputy Mayor Paints GM Scenario With City Pensions
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebookComments (27) [rss]
Post a comment (Comment Policy)
Tips
Newsmap
Contribute
finally someone is talking about this
and bloomberg is the kind of mayor that can make this kind of change happen
the city (& MTA) pension situation is way way out of hand
and CLOSE that ridiculous loophole that allows these welfare queens to rack up bullsh!t overtime in their final year to inflate their pension checks
55k a year? are you freakin kidding me!
Why can't they just have 401k plans like everybody else?
Fuck these assholes. What a waste of money. What if we tie the NYPD's pension payouts to their ability to not get sued for being assholes?
Maybe we should just payout all NYPD lawsuits directly out of their pension funds. No doubt many cops join because they are power hungry, but retiring at 45 must also be a significant reason, unless of course their unchecked actions lead to a reduced pension.
many cops are not savory people...but the same can be said for any profession, the vitriolic hatred of police on this site is absurd. i wish you all would remember that aside from saving lives (see: 9/11, everyday fires, getting guns off the street and assorted other acts which PREVENT violent crimes), police and fire personnel work HOLIDAYS, WEEKENDS, NIGHT SHIFTS and must sign a waiver at hire stating an understanding that getting injured or possibly KILLED is part of their job description...anyone who wants their benefits should take their daily risk, for the rest of you, stop your hating
Their pensions should be based on their income for the time they were on the job, not on the last few years of same.
As for the compensation for doing a hazardous job, perhaps they are in the wrong line of business. Maybe mining in China or forestry is more suited for them.
I have lived in NYC my entire life. I am not Tony Marino. I have an deep unabided loathing for people, who come to this city from some obscure region of the country and live in hipster neighborhoods; ie Williamsburg,Buschwick, Hell's Kitchen, Harlem etc. and have no real understanding of the history and turmoil those areas experineced. So if a police hassled you for being noisey when you were out being cool or toking up, Oh well....
As to the rest, one question, would you ask the same of veterans? The police department is a para-miltary oraginization. The pensions paid to people, who devote their lives to serve the city is well deserved. Everyday they wake up and arm themselves not because they are moronic and can get no other job or they are wanna be Travis Brickels; rather, they are people like myself who love this city and want it to continue to grow in the direction it has.
A police officer, at any moment, even during a routine traffic stop could be killed ie Oakland. If you love the city, you want the people protecting it to love it and cherish it as much as you do. As a society you eneter in a social contract with the police. Perhaps vitriolic hatred of those that are paid to protect what you puport to love is misplaced.
In that light I ask you to contemplate this fact; the starting pay for an NYPD officer is not nearly commensurate with Nassau, Suffolk or the Port Authority. All of these are adjacents jurisdictions and many of the men and women who choose to protect and serve this city do just that choose the NYPD.
The benefits that are offered are done so that QUALIFIED, DEDICATED PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE WILL TAKE THE JOB. p.s. they made those trendy neighborhoods you live in safe, so if you you don't like how it is here i suppose one could always go back to darien, ct or wherever...but i guess it's much harder to be edgy and hip there.
I just went through a whole box of Kleenex reading the above.
I think the guy brought out the Stradivarius, too.
I was born in Brooklyn and lived there half my life before moving to other boroughs. I agree that cops have tough jobs that don't pay well. But don't give me this bullshit about them loving and cherishing the city. Maybe a few do but a lot of them live in Rockland County or wherever and actually despise the city.
Did you ever see the cars parked around the NYPD sick desk and psych services at Lefrak City, with bumperstickers like "Out in 20, Can't beat that" or "In at 20, Out at 40"? To most of these guys it's just a job, not a passion. And that's OK. I have no problem trading good benefits for public safety. Just don't give me the crap about cops cherishing the city.
Actual police officers who deal with criminals and physical danger are not the issue. I have no problem with beat cops and detectives getting the bennies, but how many file clerks and bureaucrats are getting the same deal for no greater risk of injury than a papercut? Fuck them and fuck the token-booth jockeys at the MTA, too.
Beat cops are the one who do the traffic stops. Detectives have very dangerous job. After a crime is committed and a someone is not immideiately caught, a det. is given the job of finding that person. The invesitagtory procees often includes entering placing that are less than savory. Within the last five years at least, two NYPD detectives were shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance.
Before this discussion can occur in a meaningful way, all of the above should learn about the structure and function of the city agencies. MTA and the NYPD are separate agencies.
The Police Department is under the auspices of the City of NY, their budget comes from the mayor's office. The MTA was created after the fiscal crisis of the 70s and answers primiarly directly to state government. They have different unions each of whom negiotate their own contracts. None of which I might add have the right to strike, despite the transit strike which was considered by many to be illegal.
As to the rest you know what you can do with your kleenex.
"I have an deep unabided loathing for people, who come to this city from some obscure region of the country..."
Wow, you really know how to be persuasive. Step one - declare your hatred for the audience. I hate you too, asshole.
"As to the rest, one question, would you ask the same of veterans?"
Actually, my impression is that veterans don't receive anything near the same level of support ($54K/yr) after they leave the service, even if they are wounded.
"In that light I ask you to contemplate this fact; the starting pay for an NYPD officer is not nearly commensurate with Nassau, Suffolk or the Port Authority."
Starting pay is a red herring. This story is about pensions, in which people apparently can make more while retired (yet young enough to start a second career) than a rookie does while actually risking his life.
Two words... cops...and plunger.
Four words and a hyphen...Cops and walkie-talkie antenna
Two words... cops...and plunger.
Oh, evil civil servants! They're responsible for this mess!
If you guys think cops and firefighters have such a good deal, you should take the test and join. See how fast you can run after a 18 year old kid or climb the ladder to a fire when you are 45-50 years old with the new pension tier. Then you'll also enjoy the days your denied the day off on your kid's birthday, or wedding anniversary or standing on the street for 12+ hours during a major holiday, dealing with unappreciative civilians who believe everything they read in the paper and see in movies. The fact is, they are and always will be a young man's job.
Funny how nobody is ripping Mayor Mike for putting tax dollars into stadiums and such...
You shouldn't believe everything you read. Isn't that all part of liberalism,is that your some sort of free thinker. You let the papers tell you what to think. There has been a surplus in the pension system for years. Cops and Firefighters settled on contracts with the city through ATTRITION BARGANING. Do you know what that means. PRODUCTIVITY GIVEBACKS. That means we gave somthing up for a benifit we have today. The $12,000 a year Christmass bonus is actually our own money. Its called the Variable Supplement fund. It was set up in the 1960's by cops and firefighters with our own money. it was a retirement fund set up by the unions. The city came to them because they saw all of this money.They took control and agreed to pay a certain amount of money a year to retired members. Both the cops and firefighter funds had over a billion doller surplus in 2007. It is actually a breach of contract for the mayor to even comment publically on the subject. But he does and the public eats it up. If you think $55,000 a year for a retired person is alot of money , it just shows what type of person you are.
You shouldn't believe everything you read. Isn't that all part of liberalism,is that your some sort of free thinker. You let the papers tell you what to think. There has been a surplus in the pension system for years. Cops and Firefighters settled on contracts with the city through ATTRITION BARGANING. Do you know what that means. PRODUCTIVITY GIVEBACKS. That means we gave somthing up for a benifit we have today. The $12,000 a year Christmass bonus is actually our own money. Its called the Variable Supplement fund. It was set up in the 1960's by cops and firefighters with our own money. it was a retirement fund set up by the unions. The city came to them because they saw all of this money.They took control and agreed to pay a certain amount of money a year to retired members. Both the cops and firefighter funds had over a billion doller surplus in 2007. It is actually a breach of contract for the mayor to even comment publically on the subject. But he does and the public eats it up. If you think $55,000 a year for a retired person is alot of money , it just shows what type of person you are.
Cops and Firefighters settled on contracts with the city through ATTRITION BARGANING. Do you know what that means.
Actually, it doesn't sound like you know what "attrition" means.
PRODUCTIVITY GIVEBACKS. That means we gave somthing up for a benifit we have today.
So, what specifically did you give up? People are making concessions in all kinds of fields these days. You can't just shout it in all caps and expect us to give a shit.
If you think $55,000 a year for a retired person is alot of money , it just shows what type of person you are.
Huh? Perhaps I'm somebody who understands that the median income in this country is actually less than that. You want to retire at 45 and still pull in more than most people in the US? Not with my taxpayer dollars.
hey smart guy...the revised rules would only effect new hires...your tax dollars are still going to pay everybody else who leaves at 40, HOLLA!
I would dislike your ilk less if you made more of attempt to appreciate the places that you go rather than acting as if you are entitled to be hip and cool at the expense of those that lived in those neighbors for years. Places that you so cheerfully stomp thruough now with hardly a thought to the people who were displaced by you. Notice the lack of profanity in my response.
First question handsome, what part of the country do you hail from? Second, what do you do for a living? Are you married and if you are when you got married did you explain to your spouse that a phone call means alive and a car at the door means dead? What would that be worth to your family?
I don't hate you, I pity you and your knee jerk reactions to criticism. Please refrain from the nasty language it is not becoming of an adult forum, it smacks more of a person bereft of reasoning, well in the words of a four year old you are just trying to stay mad.
Go have a mojitio and cool off....
I'm really curious - what difference does it make where I'm from? What place would be good enough for you?
You don't know anything about me or how I act when I'm out and about. I actually live in an unhip South Brooklyn neighborhood, possibly the same as yours. The guy I "displaced" got married and moved to a house in Jersey.
I just found it comical that the guy above decided to make his case by making broad pronouncements about some stereotype that he hates. I've actually met a few retired firemen and NYPD in this 'hood, and some are good guys, but some of them are incredibly stupid, resentful, and selfish jerkoffs. It is these guys who think just like "bornbred" that make me profoundly distrustful of the NYPD.
Fact is, the dept. is supposed to be there to protect me, a taxpaying, law-abiding citizen who doesn't bother anybody, but I know from personal experience that you look at me and see the enemy, because I am different from you.
You got a PBA president who rants and raves on TV about "mongrels," you've got cops lying about the facts in their police reports, you've got plenty of folks who will irrationally defend any cop no matter how badly they screw up, and then you turn around and expect ME, as a taxpayer and voter, to just blindly support whatever you think you need?
The commenters like "bornbred" and "chompy" are assuming that they are talking to people who are ignorant, and they write in a very condescending way. (Trust me, I'd rather be cheerfully profane than act like my shit doesn't stink all the time.) They can't think their way out of a paper bag, and I've enjoyed pointing it out.
p.s. the pension system in large part is based upon the contributions of its members...but you keep paying your taxes, tha helps all the 40 year old retirees also.
Hey, if I had taken a job at 21 where I could sit in an air-conditioned car for 8:35 a few days a week, texting my project side-slut, say 90X every two hours without getting out of the car, writing the occasional C (if overtime needed), frequent flyer miles to Lefrak, DWIing nightly to Rockland with the expectation of "courtesy", lining up my PBA tool lawyer for that shot at 3/4 years in advance, I'd have been retired ten years ago. But, gee, I guess I wanted more for my life. Oh, and if I had a heart attack because I'm a fat bag of lard, I get 3/4 too! Anybody up for a "Variable Supplement" for bodega clerks & livery drivers. They work all shifts and have a high mortality too!
I have only ONE question.... if someone is busting down your door, or just smacked into your car out of control doing donuts,.... WHO WOULD YOU CALL? and ps? WHO would you expect to be there for YOUUUU "johnny on the damn spot?" SHUT UP your vitriolic rants about police officers. They have more integrity, honor and selflessness than you could possibly imagine or obviously comprehend. I will be mourning our 4 fallen officers in my city of Oakland forever.
Firefighter and Police Officers are not adequately compensated. The number of on the job injuries and line of duty deaths is far greater than for other occupations. Their life expectancy is much lower than other occupations due to higher exertion, more stress and exposure to smoke and other toxins. The cost of living adjustment for their pensions is half the rate of inflation and a maximum of 3 percent annually. Their pensions are calculated using their last year of service and that year may not exceed the previous year by more than 20 percent INCLUDING overtime. The City drastically reduced their contributions to the Pension Fund during the 1990's when the stock market returns were high. Had they not done this, the pension costs for this year and the next few years would be much lower.