March 12, 2012
So much for the bum knee.
A former FDNY captain who retired with a fat, three-quarters disability pension was fit enough to land a top fire-safety job at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, The Post has learned.
Harold Werner, 57, will be paid more than $100,000 a year as the museum’s fire and life-safety manager, on top of his $109,780 annual, tax-free disability pension.
Werner, of Belle Harbor, Queens, spent 24 years in the FDNY before retiring in May 2003 from Ladder Co. 120, in Brooklyn, with what was described as a line-of-duty knee injury, sources said.
Despite that injury, Werner will now supervise other fire-safety officials and serve as a liaison to the FDNY on fire-code safety-enforcement issues, said 9/11 Memorial spokesman Michael Frazier.
A source who worked with Werner said his duties at the FDNY were similar to what he will do at the memorial.
“Nobody begrudges him for taking advantage of certain protections,” said the source. “But if you’re well enough to get a three-fourths disability pension and you fulfill a similar function to what you did before, the system is basically flawed.”
Werner declined to comment about his pension or the new job.
The memorial spokesman also declined comment on Werner’s salary, although sources there confirmed it was at least six figures.
“This whole place is a breeding ground for retired people from the NYPD and FDNY,” a source familiar with operations at the memorial said.
Mayor Bloomberg, chairman of the memorial museum’s foundation, is fighting to rein in out-of-control pension costs and abuses.
A spokesman for the mayor, when asked about Werner, said the city does not have a majority of the votes on any of the city ‘s pension boards to reject questionable disability pensions.
“We have been trying to tighten the disability process, but unfortunately, we are in the minority on these issues,” spokesman Marc La Vorgna said, adding that changes have to be made via the boards or through the state Legislature.
Werner, who also is a registered nurse, previously served as a fire-safety director for the Sony Corp. after retiring from the FDNY.
Joe Daniels, the president of the memorial, defended Werner’s hiring.
“Our priority is to ensure the safety and the security of the 9/11 Memorial and its visitors, and to that end, we recruit the most experienced and qualified person,” he said.
One memorial official noted that Werner would be “working in a management capacity, meaning a desk job.” But another insider disputed that claim, saying Werner spends much of his work day outside, patrolling the 8-acre site.
SOURCE: New York Post
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