Life’s a seaside — when taxpayers choose up the tab.
A controversial former Massive Apple chief metropolis lifeguard nicknamed “Boss of the Seashore” raked in a staggering $570,419 pension final 12 months, in line with the Empire Middle for Public Coverage.
Ex chief lifeguard and union boss Peter Stein’s taxpayer-funded golden parachute comes after a longtime twin profession the place he additionally served full-time as a center college fitness center trainer In Brooklyn — calling it quits whereas underneath investigation by the town Division of Investigation.
Stein, 81, held two full-time metropolis jobs for 3 many years and he was probed by the Board of Training for the weird however authorized association — with investigators digging in to see if he was shirking his obligations.
Nothing got here of the investigation.
Town’s alleged David Hustle-hoff began patrolling seashores greater than 60 years in the past, and for greater than 40 years was president of the lifeguard supervisors’ union, Native 508 of District Council 37.
He was referred to as the “boss of the seaside” and accused of controlling not simply his union, however the separate lifeguard union, Native 461.
Stein retired as a college trainer in 2004 after 32 years, pulling in $77,974 the 12 months earlier than he retired, data confirmed. He had additionally led the academics union chapter at his college for a few years.
However Stein stored working as chief lifeguard for 2 extra many years together with his tenure marked by a collection of accusations of mismanagement, together with claims of failing to take motion sexual harassment claims and retaliation.
Stein ended up as the middle of a 2020 New York Journal profile that in contrast “The Boss of the Seashore” to Boss Tweed and stated he relied on “a playbook of patronage, energy brokering, and intimidation.”
In 2021, he refused to be questioned about “systemic issues” plaguing the town’s lifeguard program, the Division of Investigation stated.
How precisely Stein obtained as much as $570,000 final 12 months in retirement pay final 12 months is unclear.
His common gross pay topped out at $121,000 in 2023 after which $120,475 in 2024.
However his whole “different pay” was $205,599 in 2025, bringing his whole pay to $280,000.
His whole pay was $213,473 in 2023 and $196,805 in 2024.
Stein declined to remark.
A lady driving outdoors Stein’s house Sunday informed a Put up reporter to “give it up already,” rolled her eyes, after which rolled up her window and drove away.
“Peter Stein’s pension is extraordinary however it isn’t an anomaly as now we have constantly famous such excessive pensions yearly throughout New York’s numerous pension programs,” stated the Empire Middle’s Abdullah Ar Rafee. “It’s a direct consequence of how New York’s public pension system was designed.”
He stated the legal guidelines permit authorities workers to “stack a number of pensions” or rack up late-career extra time and employees like Stein “can be unwise to not take full benefit.”
“On the finish, the last word burden falls on state and native taxpayers, who’re left funding ballooning long-term liabilities that crowd out public providers,” Ar Rafee stated.
Stein is much from alone in working the system.
The New York Metropolis Workers’ Retirement System, the pension plan protecting most New York Metropolis authorities businesses together with the town’s subway system, had 62 members with pension funds of no less than $200,000 final 12 months, the Empire Middle’s SeeThroughNY.web web site reviews.
Except for Stein, different high pensions went to:
- Nicolas Audi, retired from the Division of Environmental Safety in 2018 – with $341,487 in whole pension funds.
- Warren Murray Jr., retired from the District Lawyer’s Workplace in 2021 – $325,015 in whole pension funds.
- Eileen Barkow, retired from the Metropolis’s Division of Info, Know-how and Telecommunications in 2023 – $297,130 in whole pension funds.
- Roger Smoke, retired from the Well being and Hospitals Company in 2014 – $293,183 in whole pension.
Ar Rafee stated Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature have taken motion that’s rolled again measures put in place to regulate pension prices, on the behest of the highly effective public worker unions.
This 12 months, the Democrat-controlled state authorities largely undid Tier 6 reforms, which noticed pension advantages slashed and contributions upped for public employees employed after 2012, with their retirement ages bumped up from 55 to 62.
This 12 months’s unwinding of Tier 6 dropped the age of retirement for academics and different educators again all the way down to 58 with 30 years of service. It additionally shrank worker contributions down, placing the burden on taxpayers and native governments as an alternative.
That transfer “will solely make the issue worse for future generations,” the Empire Middle’s rep stated.
The entire variety of pensioners grew solely 7% within the final 5 years — from 150,563 in 2020 to 160,982 in 2025.
However whole pension advantages rose by 24percentto $6.18 billion from $4.99 billion.
The variety of six-figure pensioners doubled throughout this era to three,219 from 1,609 in 2020.
The Empire Middle stated it’s value noting that pension funds in New York aren’t topic to state and native revenue tax.
For instance, a retiree with a $60,000 pension cost would save roughly $4,586 or 7.64% in state and native revenue taxes.
Further reporting by Brandon Cruz
