Opinion

Abuse driving NY bankrupt

The Issue: Cliff Stabner, who gets an FDNY disability pension while working as a NASCAR fire rescuer.

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It is outrageous that firemen like Cliff Stabner, who now works as a NASCAR rescue crewman in Delaware, can retire in their 40s or early 50s with tax-free disability pensions that are sometimes even bogus (“Law Hits Di$ability Fakers,” March 27).

I am sure there are similar abuses in the NYPD, Sanitation Department and MTA. This is a racket that is bankrupting the city and must be stopped.

What happened to laws against pension fraud? The city must be too busy cracking down on property owners for things like not recycling garbage properly.

Stabner and others are probably laughing on their way to the bank.

Dennis Middlebrooks

Brooklyn

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“Law Hits Di$ability Fakers” is full of holes and doesn’t ask certain questions.

What are the medical-clearance criteria for a racetrack safety-rescue member? I doubt they are as stringent as the FDNY’s.

What are the criteria for a disability pension and working after? The truth is that there are more people than not who have legitimate life-changing injuries and have earned their pension through bodily sacrifice.

Firefighters love their job and are usually tearfully forced into retirement due to injuries.

Ask any firefighter if he would return if the city let him, and you’ll hear, “I’d start tomorrow.”

Jimmy Condit

South Setauket