2010 New York Code
RSS - Retirement & Social Security
Article 15 - (600 - 617) COORDINATED RETIREMENT PLAN
607-B - Performance of duty disability retirement.

§  607-b.  Performance of duty disability retirement. a. Any member of
  the New York city employees' retirement system who is  employed  by  the
  city of New York or by the New York city health and hospital corporation
  in  the  position  of emergency medical technician or advanced emergency
  medical technician, as those terms are defined in section three thousand
  one of the public health  law,  who,  on  or  after  March  seventeenth,
  nineteen    hundred   ninety-six,   becomes   physically   or   mentally
  incapacitated for the performance of duties as the natural and proximate
  result of an injury, sustained in the performance or discharge of his or
  her duties shall be paid a performance  of  duty  disability  retirement
  allowance  equal  to  three-quarters of final average salary, subject to
  section 13-176 of the administrative code of the city of New  York.  Any
  member  who has made application or who, after the effective date of the
  chapter of the laws of two thousand four which amended this subdivision,
  makes application for such performance of duty pension shall be entitled
  to invoke the medical review procedure provided for in subdivision e  of
  section  six  hundred  five  of  this  article, subject to the terms and
  conditions set forth in such subdivision.
    b. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or of any general  or
  special  law  to  the  contrary,  a  member  covered by this section who
  contracts HIV (where the member may have been exposed to a bodily  fluid
  of  a  person  under  his  or her care or treatment, or while the member
  examined, transported or otherwise had contact with such person, in  the
  performance  of  his  or  her duties) tuberculosis or hepatitis, will be
  presumed to have contracted such disease in the performance or discharge
  of his or her  duties,  unless  the  contrary  be  proved  by  competent
  evidence.
    c.  1.  (a)  Notwithstanding  any provisions of this chapter or of any
  general, special or local law, charter, administrative code or  rule  or
  regulation  to the contrary, if any condition or impairment of health is
  caused by a qualifying  World  Trade  Center  condition  as  defined  in
  section  two  of  this chapter, it shall be presumptive evidence that it
  was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty  and  the  natural
  and  proximate  result  of  an  accident not caused by such member's own
  willful negligence, unless the contrary be proved by competent evidence.
    (b) the head  of  each  retirement  system  is  hereby  authorized  to
  promulgate  rules  and  regulations  to implement the provisions of this
  paragraph.
    2. (a) Notwithstanding the  provisions  of  this  chapter  or  of  any
  general,  special  or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
  regulation to the contrary, if a member who participated in World  Trade
  Center  rescue, recovery or cleanup operations as defined in section two
  of this chapter, and subsequently retired on a  service  retirement,  an
  ordinary  disability  retirement  or  a  performance  of duty disability
  retirement and subsequent  to  such  retirement  is  determined  by  the
  comptroller  to  have  a  qualifying  World  Trade  Center condition, as
  defined in section two of this chapter, upon such determination  by  the
  head of the retirement system, it shall be presumed that such disability
  was incurred in the performance and discharge of duty as the natural and
  proximate  result of an accident not caused by such member's own willful
  negligence, and that the member would have been physically  or  mentally
  incapacitated  for the performance and discharge of duty of the position
  from which he or she retired had the  condition  been  known  and  fully
  developed at the time of the member's retirement, unless the contrary is
  proven by competent evidence.
    (b)   The   head   of   the   retirement   system   shall  consider  a
  reclassification of the member's retirement as an accidental  disability
  retirement effective as of the date of such reclassification.

(c)  Such  member's retirement option shall not be changed as a result
  of such reclassification.
    (d)  The  member's  former  employer  at  the  time  of  the  member's
  retirement shall have  an  opportunity  to  be  heard  on  the  member's
  application  for  reclassification  by  the  NYCERS  board  of  trustees
  according to procedures developed by the NYCERS board of trustees.
    (e) The head  of  each  retirement  system  is  hereby  authorized  to
  promulgate  rules  and  regulations  to implement the provisions of this
  paragraph.
    d. Notwithstanding any other provision  of  this  chapter  or  of  any
  general,  special  or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
  regulation to the contrary, if a retiree who: (1) has met  the  criteria
  of  subdivision c of this section and retired on a service or disability
  retirement, or would have met the criteria if not already retired on  an
  accidental  disability;  and  (2)  has  not  been  retired for more than
  twenty-five years; and (3) dies from a  qualifying  World  Trade  Center
  condition,  as  defined in section two of this chapter, as determined by
  the applicable head of  the  retirement  system  or  applicable  medical
  board,  then  unless  the contrary be proven by competent evidence, such
  retiree shall be deemed to have died as a natural and  proximate  result
  of  an accident sustained in the performance of duty and not as a result
  of willful negligence on  his  or  her  part.  Such  retiree's  eligible
  beneficiary,  as  set  forth in section six hundred one of this article,
  shall be entitled to an accidental death benefit as provided by  section
  six  hundred  seven  of  this  article,  however,  for  the  purposes of
  determining the salary base upon which the accidental death  benefit  is
  calculated,  the retiree shall be deemed to have died on the date of his
  or her retirement. Upon the retiree's death,  the  eligible  beneficiary
  shall  make  a  written application to the head of the retirement system
  within the time for  filing  an  application  for  an  accidental  death
  benefit  as  set  forth  in  section  six  hundred seven of this article
  requesting conversion of such retiree's service or disability retirement
  benefit to an accidental death benefit. At the time of such  conversion,
  the  eligible beneficiary shall relinquish all rights to the prospective
  benefits payable under the service  or  disability  retirement  benefit,
  including any post-retirement death benefits, since the retiree's death.
  If  the  eligible  beneficiary  is not the only beneficiary receiving or
  entitled to receive a benefit under the service or disability retirement
  benefit (including, but not limited to, post-retirement  death  benefits
  or benefits paid or payable pursuant to the retiree's option selection),
  the  accidental  death benefit payments to the eligible beneficiary will
  be reduced by any amounts paid or payable to any other beneficiary.
    e. Notwithstanding any other provision  of  this  chapter  or  of  any
  general,  special  or local law, charter, administrative code or rule or
  regulation to the contrary, if a member who: (1) has met the criteria of
  subdivision c of this section; and (2) dies in  active  service  from  a
  qualifying  World  Trade  Center condition, as defined in section two of
  this chapter, as determined by the applicable  head  of  the  retirement
  system  or applicable medical board to have been caused by such member's
  participation in the World Trade  Center  rescue,  recovery  or  cleanup
  operations,   as  defined  in  subparagraph  (d)  of  paragraph  one  of
  subdivision c of this section, then unless the  contrary  be  proven  by
  competent  evidence,  such  member  shall  be  deemed  to have died as a
  natural and proximate result of an accident sustained in the performance
  of duty and not as a result of willful negligence on his  or  her  part.
  Such  member's eligible beneficiary, as set forth in section six hundred
  one of this article, shall be entitled to an  accidental  death  benefit
  provided  he  or  she  makes  written  application  to  the  head of the

retirement system within the time  for  filing  an  application  for  an
  accidental  death  benefit  as set forth in section six hundred seven of
  this article.