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Fire protection inspectors at the FDNY won a long-sought 25-year retirement pension option that will enable many inspectors to retire earlier than before, according to a provision included in the Fiscal Year 2025 New York State budget.
Inspectors covered by the Tier 6 retirement plan previously had to wait until they were 63 to retire with a full pension. They can now leave their respective service after 25 years, regardless of their age, to secure their pension.
“It finally got passed,” said Mike Reardon, a deputy chief fire inspector with more than 40 years on the job. “We’ve been pushing this for years.”
Reardon, who sits on the executive board of District Council 37’s Local 2507, which represents the inspectors and EMS workers in the FDNY, added that the union pushed for a “25 and out” pension to benefit young members of the union and the inspectors of the future.
“All the new people now can work 25 years and get out,” he said. "This was about the future for the bureau of fire prevention, for the new inspectors coming in."
Around 400 inspectors who are members of the union could be impacted by the change, said Darryl Chalmers, a retired deputy chief inspector who also sits on Local 2507’s board. He said that the pension reform was a key piece of recognizing the hazardous and important work that the uniformed fire protection inspectors do.
"Most of the members are very very happy about it,” he added.
Chalmers and Reardon spent weeks lobbying lawmakers in Albany for the change, part of a broader effort by municipal unions to get reforms for Tier 6 included in the state budget. Those reforms include a change to how a workers final average salary is calculated.
In a statement, Oren Barzilay, Local 2507’s president, thanked lawmakers and Governor Kathy Hochul for the reform.
“For years, some 400 FDNY fire protection inspectors, who are essential on the front lines of inspecting and cracking down on life safety hazards across our city, have been wrongly treated as second-class citizens compared to other comparable life-safety roles under civil service,” he said. “They play an essential role within the Fire Department, and city by detecting, investigating, and rooting out commercial landlords and tenants who are bad actors, with little regard for public safety and the law.”
Members of FDNY EMS also have a 25-year pension plan and the inspector's pensions will be self-funded, the union said.
"Fire protection inspectors are an integral part of keeping the public safe, and they play a critical role in protecting the FDNY’s mission of saving life and property," FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said in a statement. "The pension upgrade has long been an issue, and we are grateful to our state leaders for approving a plan that will allow them to continue to provide for themselves and their families into the future.”
A spokesperson for Hochul said the governor’s budget reflected her support of first responders.
"Since taking office, Governor Hochul has taken significant steps to support first responders and ensure they have the recognition and compensation they deserve, and this year's budget follows through on that commitment,” the spokesperson, John Lindsay, said in a statement.
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