The pension plan covering most New York city government agencies, including the City’s subway system, had 62 members with pension payments of at least $200,000 last year, according to new data posted today at SeeThroughNY.net, the Empire Center’s transparency website.
According to the data collected from the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), total payments climbed to $6.18 billion in 2025, a two percent increase from previous year ($6.05 billion).
While the total number of pensioners grew only seven percent in the last five years — from 150,563 in 2020 to 160,982 in 2025, total pension benefits rose by 24 percent to $6.18 bn (from $4.99 bn). The number of six-figure pensioners doubled during this period to 3,219 (from 1,609 in 2020).
Newly retired members (those retiring in calendar year 2024 and collecting their first full-year pension in 2025) included 4,784 “full career” individuals—those employees who had 20 or more years of service credit. The average pension received by “full career” retirees was $62,582, with 490 receiving six-figure payouts, including nine pensioners who received more than $200,000.
Among all retirees, the top pension payments (excluding back pay) went to:
- Peter Stein, retired from the City’s Department of Parks & Recreation in 2025 – $570,419 in total pension payments.
- Nicolas Audi, retired from the Department of Environmental Protection in 2018 – $341,487 in total pension payments.
- Warren Murray Jr, retired from the District Attorney’s Office in 2021 – $325,015 in total pension payments.
- Eileen Barkow, retired from the City’s Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications in 2023 – $297,130 in total pension payments.
- Roger Smoke, retired from the Health and Hospitals Corporation in 2014 – $293,183 in total pension.
The Transit Authority had 35,541 retirees – the highest among all agencies, where retirees averaged a total pension payment of $42,574. Among the larger agencies, Department of Correction Retirees averaged the highest at $56,366, followed by the Department of Sanitation ($47,923) and Department of Environmental Protection ($46,331).
The pension payments included more than $52.7 million in “back pay”. Sixteen retirees collected over $100,000 in back pay with the largest being paid out to Lucradia Riddick of the Administration for Children’s Services who was paid $403,543 in backpay taking her total pension payment to $627,886. In addition, Maxine Horne from Department of Social Services and Harold Ricks from the Health and Hospitals Corporation were paid $303,236 and $294,648 respectively in backpay during the calendar year.
Although the reason for the backpay is not immediately clear from the data, NYCERS states that “in most cases, the additional sums represent monies due to the retiree for allowances not previously received; the period covered by these retroactive payments can be greater than one year.”
The total pension payments also include $118.4 million in Variable Supplements Fund (VSF) payments and $338.6 million in Cost-of-Living Adjustments. The Variable Supplements Fund (VSF) – more commonly known as “holiday bonus” is an annual fixed supplemental benefit of $12,000, paid in addition to the regular pensions and cost of living adjustments. 94 percent of all VSF dollars went to Department of Correction retirees during 2025.
It is worth noting that pension payments in New York are not subject to state and local income tax. A retiree with a $60,000 pension payment would save approximately $4,586 (7.64 percent) in state and local taxes.
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.
