86G disability pension for marathon man

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He's got some pair of lungs on him!

Retired FDNY Lt. John McLaughlin has literally run off with a fat, tax-exempted disability pension -- despite being known as "Iron Man" in the Long Island hometown where he regularly trains and competes as a triathlete, The Post has learned.

The 55-year-old Long Beach councilman was deemed an asthmatic with diminished lung capacity when the city granted him a three-quarters-pay, $86,000-a-year disability pension two months after 9/11 -- earning him the sarcastic moniker "Johnny Lungs" among neighbors.

Despite his pulmonary disability, McLaughlin is a long-distance runner who since his retirement has competed in the New York Marathon, half-marathon races and even grueling triathlons that also include strenuous biking and swimming, sources said.
The "disabled" man places high in local and regional races and frequently wins his age group, running impressive six-minute miles. He's often seen jogging and biking on the Long Beach boardwalk.

"John is an incredibly fast runner. He runs like the wind," said one fellow Long Island athlete.

The runner, who requested anonymity because of McLaughlin's status as a councilman, said his disability pension was beyond the pale. "He has diminished lung capacity? I wish I had diminished lung capacity to run like that."

Adding insult to injury, McLaughlin ran for the FDNY's marathon team -- after retiring.

The Fire Department newsletter even applauded McLaughlin's performance that helped the FDNY defeat the NYPD runners in the New York Marathon in 2006, finishing the race in just over 3 hours.

"He [McLaughlin] is a poster child for what's wrong with the pension system. It's hard to believe it's true," said Carol Kellerman, head of the Citizens Budget Commission.

"Either he had a miraculous recovery or it's a symbol of a very liberal interpretation of a disability in the Fire Department pension system."

FDNY medical records show that McLaughlin, a 20-year veteran, was diagnosed with bronchial asthma before 9/11 -- and he retired in November 2001.

McLaughlin -- who was assigned to then Fire Commissioner Thomas Von Essen's office after being placed on light duty following his diagnosis -- told The Post he worked at Ground Zero for at least two days.

"His friends call him 'Johnny Lungs' because of his disability. Everyone knows it's a joke," said one Long Beach insider.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/p...#ixzz0svGoXL2V

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He should be sued to get every penny he has collected back.