New York’s Finest: Retired & Unfiltered Podcast

By John D. Macari Jr. & Eric S. Dym, Bleav

A podcast that explores the “Greatest Show on Earth” everyday life & politics of NYC and the NYPD. Explore the life & careers of our guests. Hear real unfiltered views & opinions from thos... more

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The podcast currently has 612 episodes available.

Best of New York’s Finest: Retired & Unfiltered Podcast

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Number 1: Retired NYPD Detectives Paying More for Less? Inside the DEA Dental Plan Changes
RETIRED NYPD DETECTIVES SCREWED? Dental Costs Rise as Benefits Shrink Retired NYPD Detectives are raising serious questions about changes to their dental benefits: higher costs, diminished benefits, and questions surrounding the broker involved in the plan. We invited current DEA President Scott Munro to join the discussion. Munro will not be appearing and instead is sending retired DEA Board Officer Rick Tirelli in his place. *Rick Tirellli pulled out of the Interview, last minute at the request of the DEA Board, even though the DEA President had sent him in his place. We also invited Retired Detectives’ Endowment Association Trustee, Patrick Donohue to join us and he accepted. So joining us LIVE to weigh in are two retired NYPD Detectives Patrick Donohue and Rick Tirelli. We’ll discuss the changes to the retirees’ dental plan, including what retirees are now paying, what benefits have changed, why those changes were made, and BlueLine Planning’s role as broker for the plan. But this conversation isn’t only about today’s retirees. Every active NYPD Detective has a stake in this because retirement benefits are part of what members work an entire career to earn. Today’s active detectives are tomorrow’s retirees, and benefits available to them after retirement could be diminished as well. And this raises a much larger question for every NYPD officer, regardless of rank or union: Is this the new union strategy take from retirees because they can no longer vote you in or out of office? And should that change? Should NYPD retirees have a VOTE and a VOICE in their unions? Join us Monday, August 31 at 08:05 AM ET LIVE on YouTube and weigh in. Our live chat is always extremely busy, so we can't get to every question. However, we answer EVERY YOUTUBE SUPER CHAT at the end of each broadcast. If you're an active or retired NYPD member, bring your questions, hear both sides, and decide for yourself. KALSHI Download the Kalshi app and use code FINEST to get $10 when you trade $10. https://kalshi.com/r/FINEST⁠ Kalshi - Use Code FINEST SUPPORT NYPD POLICE OFFICER OMAR HABIB We’re asking the Finest Unfiltered community and supporters of law enforcement everywhere to help NYPD Police Officer Omar Habib and his family as he continues his legal fight. Omar is the first officer tried and convicted of NYC's Chokehold law. Omar responded to a 911 call and was met with a resisting perpetrator. The perpetrator was brought into custody and was UNINJURED during the encounter. Omar is currently in RIKERS ISLAND awaiting sentencing of up to 7 years in prison. A Fund the First Legal Defense & Appeal Fund has been established to help with the financial burden of his legal defense and appeal. Whether it’s $5, $10, $25 or more, every contribution helps and if you can’t donate, sharing the fundraiser costs nothing and can make a huge difference. Help us spread the word. Help Omar fight. 100% of donations made through the campaign go through Fund the First according to the campaign's terms. Donate to Omar Habib’s Legal Defense & Appeal Fund Please donate, share the campaign, and keep the conversation going. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
August 31, 20263h 28min
Number 2: NYPD Pension FRAUD? DOI Exposes Major Problems Inside Police Pension Fund
Is the NYPD Police Pension Fund properly protecting taxpayer money—or has a broken system allowed pensions to be improperly calculated? On this episode of New York’s Finest: Retired & Unfiltered, we break down two major NYC Department of Investigation reports released just days apart examining the NYPD Police Pension Fund. First, DOI examines NYPD accident-disability pensions, finding vulnerabilities in how disability applications are evaluated and how rarely disability retirees are medically re-examined. DOI reported that the PPF paid approximately $935 million in accident-disability benefits in FY2025, including more than $100 million to officers who had not yet reached their normal retirement eligibility. We discuss the cases highlighted by DOI involving senior NYPD officials, including former Chief of Department John Chell and former Chief of Training Juanita Holmes, and the larger question: Should an NYPD executive seeking disability retirement be evaluated on the physical requirements of a street cop or the actual duties of the position they performed? Then we examine DOI's investigation into NYC Charter Section 821, which can preserve Police Pension Fund rights when eligible NYPD members move into certain civilian or exempt government positions. DOI says administrative errors and inconsistent practices resulted in some pensions being higher than what recipients were entitled to under DOI's interpretation of the law. The report specifically addresses Louis Molina, Eugene Whyte, Edelle James, Juanita Holmes, Kaz Daughtry, Luis Martinez, Kenneth Morgan and Lamona Knight and recommends that several pension calculations be corrected. One striking example: DOI says Kaz Daughtry signed an agreement excluding his exempt-position salary from his pension calculation. DOI reports that honoring the agreement would have produced an estimated annual retirement allowance of $100,505.19 rather than the $153,199.25 he currently receives. Two reports. Two different pension issues. One Police Pension Fund. Are these examples of individual wrongdoing, administrative failures, inconsistent rules—or a pension system desperately in need of clearer oversight? We separate what DOI actually established from the allegations and ask what these proposed changes could mean for both NYPD executives and rank-and-file cops. Sponsored by Kalshi Think you know what’s going to happen next? You can trade on it with Kalshi. Download the Kalshi app and use code FINEST to get $25 when you trade $25. https://kalshi.com/r/FINEST Subscribe to New York’s Finest: Retired & Unfiltered for independent NYPD, NYC crime, policing and political commentary. #NYPD #NYPDPension #PolicePension #NYC #NYPDNews #DisabilityPension #Police #NewYorkCity #FinestUnfiltered Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
September 21, 20263h 15min
Number 3: IS THE NYPD HIDING CRIME? NYC Council Grills Brass Over Crime Stats
Are New Yorkers getting the full story about crime in New York City? On this episode of New York’s Finest: Retired & Unfiltered, we break down yesterday’s NYC Council Public Safety Committee hearing on NYPD crime statistics. Council members questioned NYPD officials about crime trends across the five boroughs, including the fact that while murders and shootings have fallen substantially, overall major felony crime remains above 2019 levels. The hearing also examined allegations that some New Yorkers have been discouraged from filing police complaint reports—raising questions about how crimes are reported, classified and ultimately reflected in the city’s official statistics. PLUS — SPECIAL GUEST SARITHA KOMATIREDDY At the beginning of the show, New York Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy joins us to discuss her proposal to establish an Office of Civil Commitment. Komatireddy says the proposed office would bring together law-enforcement professionals and physicians to address cases involving people with severe mental illness who meet New York's legal standards for involuntary commitment. The proposal has also drawn criticism from some mental-health advocates, who question the role of law enforcement and the practical scope of such an office. We’ll ask Saritha how the office would actually work, who would qualify for intervention, what authority the Attorney General has, and whether the proposal could address the cycle of people with serious mental illness repeatedly entering and leaving the criminal-justice and mental-health systems. Then we go inside the NYC Council hearing: crime stats, complaint reports, NYPD staffing, the Bronx, felony assaults, shootings, murders—and the question at the center of it all: Do the statistics tell the entire story of crime in New York City? Sponsored by Kalshi Think you know what’s going to happen next? You can trade that on Kalshi. Download the Kalshi app and use code FINEST to get $25 when you trade $25. https://kalshi.com/r/FINEST #NYPD #NYCCrime #NYC #CrimeStats #SarithaKomatireddy #NewYork #NYCPolitics #TheFinestUnfiltered Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
September 18, 20263h 16min
Number 4: NYPD Vaccine Mandate Settlement: Fired Cop Gets Back Pay & Pension Credit
On this episode of The Finest Unfiltered, former NYPD Police Officer Nancy Chinchilla and her attorney Christina Martinez join us to discuss Nancy’s fight against NYC’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Nancy was terminated from the NYPD after refusing to comply with the vaccine mandate after her request for a religious accommodation was denied. She fought back in court. As the case approached trial, the NYPD reached out to settle — with an agreement providing back pay and pension credit bringing Nancy up to 20 years of credited service. Why did the NYPD settle before trial? What was the basis for denying Nancy’s religious accommodation? And most importantly: Could this settlement have implications for other NYPD officers and NYC employees who were terminated over the vaccine mandate? We hear directly from Nancy Chinchilla and attorney Christina Martinez about the case, the settlement, and the years-long fight that brought them to this point. ABOUT CHRISTINA MARTINEZ Christina Martinez is an attorney licensed in New York and New Jersey whose practice focuses on employment discrimination, civil rights, vaccine exemptions, medical freedom and religious liberty. Martinez graduated magna cum laude from Brooklyn Law School in 2014 and has been involved in major COVID-19 civil-rights litigation across the country. According to her law firm, she has won 14 lawsuits on behalf of NYC workers terminated in connection with the City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. To learn more about Christina Martinez or contact her for a consultation: https://www.exemptionlawyer.com/ SPONSOR — KALSHI Think you know what happens next? Trade your predictions on Kalshi. Download the Kalshi app and use code FINEST to get $25 when you trade $25. https://kalshi.com/r/FINEST #NYPD #NYC #VaccineMandate #ReligiousFreedom #MedicalFreedom #CivilRights #NancyChinchilla #ChristinaMartinez #TheFinestUnfiltered Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
September 14, 20263h 4min
Number 5: NYPD's JOHN CHELL FOR MAYOR — IS NYC READY?
Former NYPD Chief of Department John Chell wants to be the next Mayor of New York City. But before New Yorkers decide whether a former cop belongs in City Hall, The Finest Unfiltered is taking a look at the entire John Chell record — not just the campaign promises. Chell is proposing a dramatically different direction for the NYPD, including making it the highest-paid police department in the nation, increasing the department to nearly 40,000 officers, and establishing physical-fitness standards for members of every rank. That last proposal raises some interesting questions. Throughout Chell's rise through the NYPD ranks, critics and observers questioned his own physical appearance and whether he appeared to represent the type of fitness standard he is now advocating for other officers and supervisors. Chell also retired from the NYPD on a three-quarter disability pension, reportedly worth approximately $296,000 per year and largely tax-free. We examine Chell's lengthy and checkered NYPD history, controversies surrounding his leadership, and the recent lawsuits in which Chell has been named, while distinguishing allegations contained in litigation from established facts. There is also the other side of the argument. Chell spent more than three decades in the NYPD and ultimately became Chief of Department — the highest-ranking uniformed position in America's largest police department. He understands policing, crime and the internal workings of New York City government in a way few traditional political candidates can claim. So what would a Mayor John Chell actually look like? Could a former NYPD Chief restore staffing, morale and competitive salaries to the department? Or will Chell's record, controversies, disability pension and past leadership decisions become major liabilities once a citywide campaign begins examining his career? We break down the good, the bad and the controversial and ask: JOHN CHELL FOR MAYOR — IS NYC READY? KALSHI Download the Kalshi app and use promo code FINEST to get $10 when you trade $10. https://kalshi.com/r/FINEST Subscribe to The Finest Unfiltered for independent coverage and analysis of the NYPD, NYC politics, crime, policing and public safety. #JohnChell #NYPD #NYCMayor #NYCPolitics #ZohranMamdani #NewYorkCity #Police #TheFinestUnfiltered Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
August 24, 20263h 5min