New Yorkers Can’t Afford to Pay $200K a Year Pensions to Civil Servants

By Dan Murphy

Kudos to our friends at empirecenter.org for highlighting the number of retired New York employees collecting pensions of $200,000 and up, including a few from Westchester. Read their story, then look up our Westchester neighbors and their exorbitant salaries.

Five Retired New York Educators Collect Over $300k In Pensions.

As state lawmakers consider enhancing retirement benefits for government workers, fresh data from the Empire Center confirms that existing pensions are generous compared to national norms.

For newly retired educators statewide (not including New York City) with at least 30 years of service, the average maximum state pension benefit was $78,097, according to data released recently by

SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website.

That amount was almost five times the 2022 median for Americans aged 65 and older with retirement income other than Social Security.

According to the Census Bureau, only about half of Americans aged 65 and older had any retirement income beyond Social Security and other government benefits. Of those who had such income, the median amount in 2022 was $17,160.

The data were obtained by the Empire Center from the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System. (NYSTRS), which finances pensions for teachers, superintendents, and other school professionals. The figures reflect the maximum allowable pension benefits for each retiree in 2025, including cost-of-living adjustments and other supplements the retiree received, if any.

Since 2008, SeeThroughNY has annually posted all available salary and pension information for state and local employees. The data are publicly available thanks to the Empire Center’s years-long effort to protect the public’s right to access pension records, including the names of retirees, which culminated in a landmark 2014 Court of Appeals decision.

Among the new retirees, 431 or 15 percent were eligible for pensions over $100,000. The highest was a benefit of up to $164,158 that went to Andrew Verboys from the Scarsdale Union Free School District. Other top recipients included: Avis Shelby, retired from the Haverstraw-Stony Point school district, $157,602; Gerald Cozine, retired from Great Neck, $156,844; Michael Chiapparelli, retired from Mamaroneck, $156,800; Juanita Bryantbell, retired from Uniondale, $155,414.

Among all retirees, including those from previous years, five were eligible to collect pensions of more than $300,000 last year. Of the 172,533 retirees who received benefits in 2025, 69 were eligible for pensions of more than $200,000, and 6,322 were eligible for pensions of over $100,000. The top five recipients were:

James Feltman, retired from the Commack school district in 2010, $328,968; Sheldon Karnilow, retired.

from Half Hollow Hills 2011, $325,404;

Carole Hankin, retired from Syosset in 2013, $322,510;

James Hunderfund, retired from Commack in 2006, $320,043;

Louis Wool, retired from Harrison in 2021, $311,966.

Reflecting regional salary differences, average pensions among the new career retirees were highest among those retiring from New York City suburban districts. As in previous years, Westchester County had the highest average pension at $98,910 for its 211 new retirees in 2024-25. The Long Island counties of Suffolk and Nassau averaged $97,713 and $96,277 for 363 and 338 retirees. The top 10 new pensions all went to retirees from downstate counties.

Here’s Westchester’s top Retired Educators and their pensions of more than $200,000. -All from the

NYS Teachers Retirement System.

1-Wool, Louis N-Harrison Central Schools $311,960–retired in 2025

2-Mustich, Peter J Rye Neck Union Free Schools $244,468-retired 2016

3-Taddiken, Nancy LEdgemont at Greenburgh Central Schools $238,754-ret 2013

4-Silverstein, Mark K Hawthorne-Cedar Knolls Union Free Schools $221,943-ret- 2020

5-Glassman, Phyllis Ossining Union Free Schools $215,627-ret 2013

6-Ferraro, Barbara A Rye Neck Union Free Schools $213,378 ret- 2021

7-Lauro, Dennis R, Jr-Pelham Union Free Schools, Westchester 2 BOCES $209,322 ret-2013

8-Lichtenfeld, Robert V Katonah-Lewisboro Union Free Schools $208,379-ret-2007

9-Pierorazio, Bernard P Yonkers Public Schools $207,781-ret-2014

10-Connolly, Kenneth J Lakeland Central Schools $203,098 ret–2010

11-Marien, Joanne ASomers Central Schools $202,137 ret–2010

12-Simpson, Sandra A Westchester 2 BOCES $201,683 ret–2015.

Read the story, with more data on pensions and salaries at https://www.empirecenter.org/publications/

five-retired-new-york-educators-collect-over-300k-in-pensions/.

EmpireCenter.org notes that state lawmakers are considering enhancing retirement benefits for government workers. This concerns plans to amend Tier 6 of the New York State and Local Retirement System. For most of us, this issue is either too complicated to learn about. Most may see a push by the major unions in the state to get this past and say why not? But then these same Westchester residents and taxpayers complain when their taxes go up, and above the tax cap. When I saw all of the pressure being put on Governor Hochul and the State legislature to pass Tier 6 reforms, I thought, ” Who is going to pay for this?

I received the following from the NYS Association of County, Town, and Mayors. NYS Association of County, Town, and Mayors on Tier 6 Reform: State Must Pick Up the Costs

“Statement NYSAC, NYCOM, and NYAOT on Proposed Amendments to Tier 6 of the New York State and Local Retirement System As we approach the April 1st start of the new state fiscal year, the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC), the New York State Conference of Mayors (NYCOM), and the New York Association of Towns (NYAOT) are closely monitoring for proposals to amend Tier 6 of the New York State and Local Retirement System. The legal and fiscal impact of these changes warrants additional consideration by every state lawmaker. Nearly 60% of county, city, town, and village employees participate in Tier 6, meaning any modifications will have substantial fiscal implications for local governments across New York. The timing of these proposals alone warrants serious attention.

The New York State and Local Retirement System determines employer contribution rates annually based on a variety of factors, including fund valuation as of March 31, as well as regular updates in actuarial assumptions related to retiree longevity, pension benefit changes, wages, and more. The current employer contribution rate for municipal employees stands at 17% of payroll. While the pension fund had been projected to achieve double-digit returns that would stabilize employer contributions for 2027, recent stock market volatility has significantly altered that outlook. Current projections now anticipate single-digit returns, which will create additional upward pressure on employer contribution rates—pressure that local governments cannot easily absorb.

Our position is unequivocal: if the State of New York chooses to amend Tier 6, the State must fully fund all costs associated with those changes. This is not only a matter of fiscal necessity—it is a matter of law.

Section 25 of the New York State Retirement and Social Security Law requires that the State bear the financial responsibility for pension benefit enhancements. This provision was specifically enacted in recognition of the enormous fiscal liability pension enhancements create for local governments, which they have no ability to control. It further ensures the fiscal stability of the pension fund going forward while maintaining affordability for local taxpayers—goals that are undermined if the State shifts new costs onto localities. To ignore Section 25 now would be to disregard the clear legislative intent behind its enactment and to signal to every local government in New York that state commitments to fiscal protection can be set aside whenever they become inconvenient.

Counties, cities, towns, and villages already operate under severe fiscal constraints—the property tax cap, rising costs for essential services, and the growing burden of unfunded state mandates. Any increase in employer pension contribution rates resulting from Tier 6 amendments would force local governments to make impossible choices: cutting essential services, eliminating positions, or seeking property tax increases that local taxpayers cannot afford. NYSAC, NYCOM, and NYAOT urge the Governor and Legislature to ensure that any Tier 6 changes are accompanied by a full state commitment to cover the resulting costs—and to resist the impulse to pass those costs on to local property taxpayers.”