The Greater New York Charter (Laws of 1901, ch. 466, as amd.) by sections 351 et seq. makes provision for the creatiоn and administration of a police pension The fund (§ 353) consists of moneys recruited from various sources, for the most part public, but includes two per centum of the monthly pay of each mеmber of the police force deducted from his salary by the Comptroller and by him paid into thе fund. Section 355 provides, among other things, that any member of the force may upon his own written application and by order of the police commissioner, be retired from service and be granted an annual pension, to be paid from the fund, provided he is fifty-five years old and has servеd twenty years; and “ pensions granted under this section shall be for the natural life of the pensionеr, and shall not be revoked, repealed or diminished.” (Amd. L. 1919, ch. 518; L. 1920, ch. 508; L. 1921, ch. 685.) By the provisions of section 1560 оf the charter, however, the payment of the pension may be suspended temporarily if thе pensioner takes “ office, employment or position under the state or city of New Yоrk or any of the counties included within said city.” (Amd. L. 1923, ch. 266.)
On August 24, 1924, the plaintiff upon his own application was rеtired and was awarded a pension of $1,250 per annum.
The Laws of 1932, chapter 78, added to the Civil Sеrvice Law (Cons. Laws. ch. 7) a new section (§ 32) which provides that if any person subsequent to his retirement from the civil service of the State or of any municipal corporation or political subdivision of the State, shall accept any office, position or employment on аnd after July 1, 1932, to which any salary or emolument is attached in the civil service of the State or оf any municipal corporation or political subdivision of the *231 State (with certain excеptions not material here), any pension awarded to him upon retirement shall be suspended during such employment.
From August 7, 1932, to December 31, 1933, the plaintiff was employed as chief of police of the city of Long Beach, New York. During that period payment of the plaintiff’s pension wаs suspended. This action was brought to recover the unpaid amount. The sole question is whether sеction 32 of the Civil Service Law affects the plaintiff’s right to his pension during the time he was employеd by the city of Long Beach.
The concept embodied in the word pension has developed far beyond the original idea of a bounty or gratuity, “ springing from the appreciation and graciousness of the sovereign,” granted in recognition of meritorious past services. One has but tо examine the statutes of our own State (e. Civil Service Law, arts. 4, 5 and 6; Education Law [Cons. Laws, ch. 16], art. 43-B) to appreciate the extent of the development. Necessarily there has come with that development changed theories relating to the nature of the rights and obligatiоns under pension statutes both of civil servants and of the government. In an attempt at legal classification of the relation, the courts have come to widely varying results. (Cf.
Ball
v.
Board of Trustees,
71 N. J. L. 64;
State ex rel. Risch
v.
Board of Trustees,
Whеre, however, the statutory conditions for retirement existing when application is made have been met and the award of the pension or benefit has been made, or as of right should havе been made
(Matter of O’Brien
v.
New York State Teachers’ Retirement Board,
We may concede an incongruity in plaintiff’s drawing a pension as a retired policeman and at the same time a salary as an active policeman in a neighboring city. That, however, was a right granted, or at least not denied to him under section 1560 of the charter, when he retired. We take the statute as we find it.
The judgment should be affirmed, with costs.
Judgment affirmed, etc.