For one former New York City lifeguard chief, retirement has turned into a day at the beach — funded by taxpayers.
Peter Stein, the controversial ex-Big Apple chief city lifeguard long known as the “Boss of the Beach,” collected an eye-popping $570,419 pension last year, according to the Empire Center for Public Policy.
Stein’s taxpayer-backed payout follows a lengthy and unusual public-sector career in which he also worked full time as a middle school gym teacher in Brooklyn. The former lifeguard leader and union boss stepped away while under scrutiny by the city Department of Investigation.
Now 81, Stein held two full-time city jobs for roughly three decades, an arrangement that was unusual but legal. The Board of Education examined whether he was neglecting his duties as investigators reviewed the dual roles.
The inquiry ultimately produced no action against him.
Stein began patrolling New York City beaches more than 60 years ago and spent more than four decades as president of the lifeguard supervisors’ union, Local 508 of District Council 37.
His influence earned him the “Boss of the Beach” nickname, along with accusations that he wielded power not only over his own union but also over the separate lifeguard union, Local 461.
Records show Stein retired from teaching in 2004 after 32 years in the classroom, earning $77,974 in the year before he left. He had also spent many years leading the teachers union chapter at his school.
But Stein kept working as chief lifeguard for two more decades with his tenure marked by a series of accusations of mismanagement, including claims of failing to take action sexual harassment claims and retaliation.
Stein ended up as the center of a 2020 New York Magazine profile that compared “The Boss of the Beach” to Boss Tweed and said he relied on “a playbook of patronage, power brokering, and intimidation.”
In 2021, he refused to be questioned about “systemic problems” plaguing the city’s lifeguard program, the Department of Investigation said.
How exactly Stein got up to $570,000 last year in retirement pay last year is unclear.
His regular gross pay topped out at $121,000 in 2023 and then $120,475 in 2024.
But his total “other pay” was $205,599 in 2025, bringing his total pay to $280,000.
His total pay was $213,473 in 2023 and $196,805 in 2024.
Stein declined to comment.
A woman driving outside Stein’s home Sunday told a Post reporter to “give it up already,” rolled her eyes, and then rolled up her window and drove away.
“Peter Stein’s pension is extraordinary but it is not an anomaly as we have consistently noted such high pensions every year across New York’s various pension systems,” said the Empire Center’s Abdullah Ar Rafee. “It is a direct consequence of how New York’s public pension system was designed.”
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He said the laws allow government employees to “stack multiple pensions” or rack up late-career overtime and workers like Stein “would be unwise not to take full advantage.”
“At the end, the ultimate burden falls on state and local taxpayers, who are left funding ballooning long-term liabilities that crowd out public services,” Ar Rafee said.
Stein is far from alone in working the system.
The New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the pension plan covering most New York City government agencies including the city’s subway system, had 62 members with pension payments of at least $200,000 last year, the Empire Center’s SeeThroughNY.net website reports.
Aside from Stein, other top pensions went to:
- Nicolas Audi, retired from the Department of Environmental Protection in 2018 – with $341,487 in total pension payments.
Ar Rafee said Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature have taken action that’s rolled back measures put in place to control pension costs, at the behest of the powerful public employee unions.
This year, the Democrat-controlled state government largely undid Tier 6 reforms, which saw pension benefits slashed and contributions upped for public workers hired after 2012, with their retirement ages bumped up from 55 to 62.
This year’s unwinding of Tier 6 dropped the age of retirement for teachers and other educators back down to 58 with 30 years of service. It also shrank employee contributions down, putting the burden on taxpayers and local governments instead.
That move “will only make the problem worse for future generations,” the Empire Center’s rep said.
The total number of pensioners grew only 7% in the last five years — from 150,563 in 2020 to 160,982 in 2025.
But total pension benefits rose by 24%to $6.18 billion from $4.99 billion.
The number of six-figure pensioners doubled during this period to 3,219 from 1,609 in 2020.
The Empire Center said it’s worth noting that pension payments in New York are not subject to state and local income tax.
For example, a retiree with a $60,000 pension payment would save approximately $4,586 or 7.64% in state and local income taxes.
Additional reporting by Brandon Cruz
