By Hank Russell
A recent report from a statewide think tank found that more than 100 former state employees who retired collected at least $200,000 a year in pensions.
The Empire Center for Public Policy found that 132 New York State retirees from the New York State and Local Retirement System (NYSLRS) were eligible to collect $200,000 or more in pensions during the 2026 fiscal year, according to new data posted on SeeThroughNY.net. The think tank also found that, among those retirees — who were public hospital doctors, police officers, psychiatrists, and government administrators — 37 retired from the Suffolk County Police Department.
The 485,775 pensioners of the state’s retirement system were eligible to receive $16.2 billion in pensions during the fiscal year 2025, up 20% since 2021 ($13.5 billion), the Empire Center said. Of these pensioners, 12,968 were eligible to receive more than $100,000.
The top 10 largest pensions collected by Long Island retirees include:
- Richard J. Batista, Nassau Health Care Corp., $339,874
- Paul E Scott, Nassau Health Care Corp., $329,909
- Leonard O. Barrett, Nassau Health Care Corp., $317,246
- Jorge L. Benach, SUNY at Stony Brook, $298,274
- Franklin R. Abramowitz, Suffolk County, $262,439
- Elsie M. Santafox, Nassau Health Care Corp., $260,307
- James G. Dalgish, Village of Kings Point, $256,310
- Warren E. Taylor, BOCES Suffolk 2nd Sup. Dist., $253,114
- Ronald Leli, Suffolk County, $238,948
- Mark A. Pulaski, Suffolk County, $232,267
Further, Nassau County had the largest number of retirees at 11,835, paying out $687,739,214 in total pensions; that comes out to $58,111 for each pensioner, according to the Empire Center. Suffolk County was second with 11,264 retirees and $643,317,101 in total pensions, averaging $57,113 for each retiree.