Department of Investigation eyes NYPD disability pensions

HELP! I’VE FALLEN AND I CAN GET UP: A report from the New York City Department of Investigation confirmed today what many political watchers have long suspected — that the city’s police pension system is ripe for abuse.

The Police Pension Fund doles out retirement payments to all NYPD officers and, in fiscal year 2025, paid $935 million to officers who qualified for accident disability retirement — meaning they were injured on the job and unable to perform their duties.

While DOI Commissioner Nadia Shihata said injured officers should be fairly compensated, her office found the pension system assigns this distinction — which boosts pension payments by 50% and allows officers to receive 75% of their average pay — without considering an officer’s specific job duties.

“No New Yorker wants to stand in the way of NYPD officers rightfully receiving accident benefits when they suffer injuries on the job and are unable to work,” Shihata said in a statement. “But the [Police Pension Fund’s] current administration of these benefits is vulnerable to misuse and does not employ standards consistent with those used in similar law enforcement retirement systems, such as the system for state police.”

Instead, the board has a single standard: whether an applicant can perform the general duties of a police officer, like subduing a suspect or operating a firearm — a threshold that makes less sense for officers with desk or administrative jobs.

The report specifically cited the case of former Chief of Department John Chell, who was awarded a $295,919 annual pension while serving as the NYPD’s highest-ranking uniformed officer under former Mayor Eric Adams. The huge sum came, in part, because of an ankle injury sustained in 2024. Chell was among several top Adams-era police officials who received lucrative payouts using this criteria, which the DOI report argued contributed to mistrust in the system and the belief that higher-ranking officers had an easier time securing disability pay. (The report did not make any assumptions about whether Chell would have been granted his pension under stricter criteria.)

DOI contends this standard incentivizes more people to claim a disability, citing a 2015 report that found 21% of NYPD employees retire on accident disability compared to 6% within the state system for police and firefighters, which has a more narrow criteria for awarding disability pay. Shihata even suggested that the pension board’s broad standard might not be legal, since courts have found, in the case of the state police pension rules, that job duty means what an officer actually does in practice.

Despite that, the board rejected a DOI recommendation to change the standard.

Notably, DOI pointed out in its report that two of the people on the medical board making the determinations are appointed by city agencies controlled by the mayor — which means Mayor Zohran Mamdani could push to overrule the board’s leadership.

City Hall did not respond to a question about whether he would do so.

The NYPD declined to comment, while the pension board did not respond. Chell could not be reached.

The pension system does include a safeguard to maximize city resources. The board is authorized to re-examine officers receiving disability pensions who aren’t yet of retirement age to see if their condition would allow them to work a different city job, even if it’s not in the NYPD. If they’re deemed able, then they’re primarily compensated with their pension money until they reach retirement age.

So is the pension system using this provision to examine the $100 million worth of annual pension payments doled out to NYPD officers who are under the retirement age, which the board is required by law to do?

In short, no.

Since 2019, the board has only reevaluated one pensioner, per the DOI report. And that person was found unable to do any other city work.

The report found examples indicating the board could be doing a more thorough job. DOI provided findings that suggest four officers under the retirement age are receiving disability pensions while engaging in activities like lifting weights, performing home renovations, playing competitive sports, doing pushups, instructing workout classes and, in one case, performing “complicated dance routines exhibiting a full range of arm motion.”

DOI recommended the board require officers receiving disability payments who are not yet of retirement age to periodically certify they still have a disability. The board rejected this recommendation, but agreed to create an online portal to gain input from the public on pensioners who may be healthy enough to work. It also agreed to reevaluate the four retirees flagged by DOI. — Joe Anuta

From the Capitol

META’S DAY IN COURT: New York’s top court opened its fall session this afternoon with a case that could have massive implications for the legal liability of social media companies and AI users.

Website owners are typically immune from liability for content created by third parties. But the families of the 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo are arguing that social media companies shouldn’t dodge responsibility for radicalizing Payton Gendron, the 18-year-old who drove across the state with the goal of killing Black people.

The state Court of Appeals is now deciding whether these families can proceed with a lawsuit against companies such as Meta, Google, Discord, Reddit, Amazon and 4Chan.

Gendron’s diaries and confessions show he was motivated by white supremacist material he encountered while addicted to social media. The families contend these companies are liable because they intentionally designed an addictive algorithm that destroyed his mental health while proactively steering him to pro-violence content.

“The social media companies had a role in causing the crime,” attorney Jennifer Bennett argued. “Heavy social media usage goes hand-in-hand with mass shootings.”

Meta attorney Eric Shumsky said the entire argument boiled down to an attempt to sue over the actual content the shooter saw, a type of claim his company is protected against.

“If the addiction were to cooking tutorials or cat videos or anything else, it would be an absolutely incoherent theory of liability,” Shumsky said.

Judges on the seven-person court panel acknowledged the possibility of significant repercussions no matter how they rule.

“Let’s say I can’t function, I can’t work anymore, because of my addiction to social media,” Judge Michael Garcia said while questioning the plaintiffs about how far reaching lawsuits might be under their theory. “It’s addictive, I can’t deal with people, I stay home, I can’t work.”

“That is a viable claim,” Bennett said. “The evidence is very strong that the social media companies made a product to have this effect.”

While questioning Meta, Chief Judge Rowan Wilson raised the possibility of troubling precedents if the court supports the idea of widespread immunity for app creators.

“I use AI to, let’s say, ‘design me an app to create the most harm possible to teenagers,’” Wilson said. “It’s my intent to create an app that selects content designed to destroy the mental health of teenagers … Am I liable?” — Bill Mahoney

EYES ON AI: Gov. Kathy Hochul chided the federal government today for not doing enough to address concerns about the existential threats artificial intelligence potentially poses.

“Understandably, Americans are concerned, as am I,” Hochul told reporters after an event Tuesday in Manhattan. “We have an obligation to ensure that technological progress does not come at our own peril. So while Washington refuses to act, here in New York, we're stepping up.”

Hochul pointed to the landmark RAISE Act, which goes into effect in January, and a one-year data center moratorium, which she issued in July, as evidence that New York is acting aggressively. Her administration earlier today rolled out a framework for communities that want to host a data center to minimize detrimental effects on the area.

The governor added that she’ll find “additional actions that we can take at the state level to lead the way in the absence of leadership from Washington” — though she did not specify what that looks like.

While some in Washington are eager to implement restrictions to slow down AI, President Donald Trump has tried to shut down those efforts, calling the AI dooming a “HOAX.”

Hochul said she hasn’t had conversations with legislators in recent days regarding AI. — Madison Fernandez

FROM CITY HALL

TO ENFORCE OR NOT TO ENFORCE — THAT’S THE QUESTION: Mamdani wouldn’t commit today to ordering the NYPD to step up enforcement of traffic violations in New York City — because he’s focused on “behavioral change,” not punishment.

The NYPD’s rate of issuing tickets to drivers who speed, blow through red lights, block bike lanes or otherwise break traffic laws remains far below pre-pandemic levels. And transit advocates, including left-leaning allies of Mamdani, say the police department must get back to issuing more violations, arguing that it’s critical to keeping city streets safe.

This afternoon, though, Mamdani declined repeatedly to say whether he will deliver such marching orders to the NYPD and suggested enforcement isn’t a key priority for him.

“Our goal here is not going to be measured in terms of the number of tickets that are issued or the violations, but rather behavioral change, and the NYPD is a partner in delivering that change,” Mamdani said, speaking at a press conference in Brooklyn held to unveil his new street safety plan, which contains ambitious proposals but is light on many implementation details.

How does the city change behaviors without stepping up enforcement, though? In response to that question, Mamdani suggested the answer could lie in developing more protected bus and bike lanes and otherwise redesigning streets to make them safer for pedestrians.

At the same time, Mamdani said he’s committed to “a continued partnership with the PD to use those tools of ticketing when any violation is present.”

“We’re going to be taking a hard look at how best we can change behavior that we’re seeing in violation of street safety laws, and then utilize that. That includes the PD,” he said.

The mayor’s comments came after Streetsblog reported the NYPD has shifted its traffic violation strategy to prioritize enforcement against scofflaws on e-bikes and other micromobility vehicles. That shift comes in spite of the fact that car drivers account for the vast majority of crashes and traffic deaths in the city, data shows. — Chris Sommerfeldt  

FOILED ATTEMPT: The Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, is suing the Mamdani administration over its handling of Freedom of Information Law requests.

The think tank has been seeking records related to meetings between foreign dignitaries and Ana María Archila, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs. Archila has faced criticism for attempting to meet with an Iranian diplomat amid that country’s war with the U.S.

While the Adams administration provided tailored estimates for FOIL requests (but by no means fulfilled them in a timely manner), the institute found Mamdani’s City Hall team began giving out blanket six-month timetables for fulfilling requests.

“City Hall has turned FOIL into a six-month waiting room for everyone,” Manhattan Institute City Policy Analyst Santiago Vidal Calvo and General Counsel Cameron Macdonald wrote in explaining their suit, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. “That is why we are suing.”

The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit. — Joe Anuta

SCREENS IN SCHOOLS: The New York City public school system banned unfettered access to YouTube on school-issued devices for the current school year, the Department of Education revealed Tuesday.

The ban — which went into effect last week, ahead of the first day of school — comes amid calls from City Council members to limit the use of YouTube, personal devices and AI in the classroom.

“We heard everyone loud and clear,” DOE official Scott Strickland said at a Council hearing today. “As of Wednesday night at 5 p.m., we filtered YouTube out of all student devices. They shouldn’t be able to access it either on a Chromebook or an iPad both at school and at home.”

Council member Shekar Krishnan, who chairs the Council’s Oversight and Investigations Committee and was co-leading Tuesday’s hearing, said he was “very glad to hear” of the YouTube ban.

Educational videos embedded into Google Classroom for specific lessons will be exempt from the ban.

Earlier this month, Mamdani announced a year-long AI moratorium for students in grades 2-K through eighth grade. Hochul and lawmakers in Albany also rolled out a full-day “bell-to-bell” restriction on cellphone use during the school day last school year.

Ahead of this afternoon’s hearing, Krishnan and Council member Eric Dinowitz, who chairs the Education Committee, held a rally railing against screen-heavy classroom instruction and calling, among other things, for a YouTube ban.

“We will not let the greed of big technology companies get in the way of our children's future and their education," Krishnan said at the rally. — Molly Reinmann

IN OTHER NEWS

— DECLASSIFIED DOCS: Trump said he’d consider releasing classified documents related to 9/11 after victims’ families pleaded for clarity on Saudi Arabia’s involvement. (NY Post)

— TIED UP: Long Island Democratic House candidate Christopher Gallant acknowledged he posed in bondage gear for an ad campaign over a decade ago. (The New York Times)

— ICE ARRESTS: Police in the Westchester village of Port Chester have turned over more people with no criminal record to ICE than other local law enforcement agencies, despite assertions the police department would not cooperate with ICE. (NY Focus)

Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.