Life\u2019s a beach \u2014 when taxpayers pick up the tab.<\/p>\n
A controversial former Big Apple chief city lifeguard nicknamed \u201cBoss of the Beach\u201d raked in a staggering $570,419 pension last year, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy.<\/p>\n
Ex chief lifeguard and union boss Peter Stein\u2019s taxpayer-funded <\/a>golden parachute comes after a longtime dual career where he also served full-time as a middle school gym teacher In Brooklyn \u2014 calling it quits while under investigation by the city Department of Investigation.<\/p>\n Real estate of the home of Peter Stein, who lives in Woodmere, Long Island. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n Stein, 81, held two full-time city jobs for three decades and he was probed by the Board of Education for the unusual but legal arrangement \u2014 with investigators digging in to see if he was shirking <\/a>his responsibilities.<\/p>\n Nothing came of the investigation.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s alleged David Hustle-hoff started patrolling beaches more than 60 years ago, and for more than 40 years was president of the lifeguard supervisors\u2019<\/a> union, Local 508 of District Council 37.<\/p>\n He was called the \u201cboss of the beach\u201d and accused of controlling not just his union, but the separate lifeguard union, Local 461.<\/p>\n Stein retired as a school teacher in 2004 after 32 years, pulling in $77,974 the year before he retired, records showed. He had also led the teachers union chapter at his school for many years.<\/p>\n But Stein kept working <\/a>as chief lifeguard for two more decades with his tenure marked by a series of accusations of mismanagement, including claims of failing to take action sexual harassment claims and retaliation.<\/p>\n The built-in swimming pool at Peter Stein\u2019s home. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n Stein ended up as the center of a 2020 New York Magazine profile that compared \u201cThe Boss of the Beach\u201d to Boss Tweed<\/a> and said he relied on \u201ca playbook of patronage, power brokering, and intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2021, he refused to be questioned about \u201csystemic problems\u201d plaguing the city\u2019s lifeguard program, the Department of Investigation said.<\/p>\n How exactly Stein got up to $570,000 last year in retirement pay last year is unclear.<\/p>\n His regular gross pay topped out at $121,000 in 2023 and then $120,475 in 2024.<\/p>\n But his total \u201cother pay\u201d was $205,599 in 2025, bringing his total pay to $280,000.<\/p>\n His total pay was $213,473 in 2023 and $196,805 in 2024.<\/p>\n Stein declined to comment.<\/p>\n A woman driving outside Stein\u2019s home Sunday told a Post reporter to \u201cgive it up already,\u201d rolled her eyes, and then rolled up her window and drove away.<\/p>\n \u201cPeter Stein\u2019s pension is extraordinary but it is not an anomaly as we have consistently noted such high pensions every year across New York\u2019s various pension systems,\u201d said the Empire Center\u2019s Abdullah Ar Rafee. \u201cIt is a direct consequence of how New York\u2019s public pension system was designed.\u201d<\/p>\n Stein, 81, built his massive payout by holding two full-time city jobs for 30 years: lifeguard supervisor and Brooklyn gym teacher. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n He said the laws allow government employees to \u201cstack multiple pensions\u201d or rack up late-career overtime and workers like Stein \u201cwould be unwise not to take full advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end, the ultimate burden falls on state and local taxpayers, who are left funding ballooning long-term liabilities that crowd out public services,\u201d Ar Rafee said.<\/p>\n Stein is far from alone in working the system.<\/p>\n The New York City Employees\u2019 Retirement System, the pension plan covering most New York City government agencies including the city\u2019s subway system, had 62 members with pension payments of at least $200,000 last year, the Empire Center\u2019s <\/a>SeeThroughNY.net website reports.<\/p>\n Aside from Stein, other top pensions went to:<\/p>\n Nicolas Audi, retired from the Department of Environmental Protection in 2018 \u2013 with $341,487 in total pension payments.<\/p>\n Warren Murray Jr., retired from the District Attorney\u2019s Office in 2021 \u2013 $325,015 in total pension payments.<\/p>\n Eileen Barkow, retired from the City\u2019s Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications in 2023 \u2013 $297,130 in total pension payments.<\/p>\n Roger Smoke, retired from the Health and Hospitals Corporation in 2014 \u2013 $293,183 in total pension.<\/p>\n