Metro

100G/yr. pensions at FDNY

HAROLD MEYERS
Retire pay tops commish salary.

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The pension spigot is on full blast at the FDNY, and taxpayers are getting hosed.

An eye-popping 1,294 retired firefighters, captains and chiefs now collect pensions of more than $100,000 a year, The Post has learned.

The highest-paid FDNY pensioners make up 7.4 percent of the 17,400 Bravest retirees.

By contrast, 536 of 44,300 NYPD retirees, or 1.2 percent, receive a six-figure pension.

Pension costs have skyrocketed as more firefighters retire with lifetime tax-free disability pensions equal to three-quarters of their final paychecks.

This year, the city is spending nearly as much in FDNY pension contributions, $1.05 billion, as on firefighter salaries, $1.1 billion, says the city’s Independent Budget Office.

The FDNY’s pension king is Frank Cruthers, the former department second-in-command, who retired after 42 years on a disability pension worth an estimated $242,000 a year. His one-time knee injury hasn’t tempered his enthusiasm for golf, a source told The Post.

Assistant Chief of Department Harold Meyers comes in second with a $202,512 annual disability pension, nearly $13,000 more than Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano’s $189,700 yearly salary.

Many FDNY supervisors who retired over the past several years jacked up their pensions by working hundreds of hours of overtime despite their ailments, The Post has reported. The FDNY has since cracked down on the practice.

FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon said longevity has also boosted the top pensions. Firefighters earn a pension increase of 1.6 percent for each year they serve beyond 20. They also contribute their own money to boost the payouts, he said.

The city’s total pension costs have exploded from $1.9 billion in 2002 to $7.6 billion this year.

“The real reason is that the pension funds did not make the money they were supposed to make,” said John Murphy, former executive director of New York City Employee Retirement System.

The funds’ investments failed to earn the required 8 percent a year. Instead, they took in an average of 2 percent a year over the last decade, Murphy said. The city had to make up the difference.

Additional reporting by Susan Edelman

rblau@nypost.com