America's bravest could also be the country's most disabled.
Nearly three out of four FDNY retirees have claimed disability since 2003 at a cost to taxpayers of almost $1 billion each year, according to a New York Post investigation.
That number has dwarfed comparable statistics at fire departments in other cities like Chicago, where 25 percent of firefighters claimed disability upon retirement. It also supersedes the NYPD's rate of disabled retirees, at 19 percent.
"Everybody has been getting a disability," an anonymous government source told the Post. "They see it as an entitlement."
Disability can also be quite lucrative.
Disabled retirees with 20 years of experience are entitled to three-quarters of their final pay and do not have to pay any taxes on the money, according to The Post. Non-disabled retirees earn 50 percent of their old salary, which the federal government taxes.
The Independent Budget Office calculates that taxpayers will shell out $913 million to fund the program this year, with costs rising to $973 in fiscal year 2010.
Local
If pension investments don't deliver eight percent a year, the city must step in and cover what's left.
Like New York has any money to burn right now.
