An embattled NYPD lieutenant whose overtime pay is under scrutiny has called it quits — just two months after returning to work following his first retirement, the Daily News has learned.
Lt. Ira Jablonsky filed his retirement papers Wednesday, less than 24 hours after The News reported on an NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau investigation of his overtime hours.
Jablonsky joined the NYPD in 2002 and has spent the bulk of his career in the Community Affairs Bureau, working closely in south Brooklyn with the Orthodox Jewish community. He has made over $100,000 in extra pay each of the past three years, according to public records. He returned to a similar position when he rejoined the force in July.
Last year he made $370,000 with the NYPD, about $143,000 above his base pay of $164,000, the records show.
Community Affairs work often involves different shifts, attending nighttime community meetings and working large-scale events, such as protests, parades and funerals — assignments that often generate overtime pay
Making arrests also often results in overtime pay but Jablonsky appears to have done little investigative work. His profile page on the NYPD website shows him as never having made an arrest.
In February, Jablonsky retired amid a crackdown on overtime ordered by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
He returned to the job July 7, well within the year-long time frame during which a retired officer can change their mind and return.
Soon after, however, IAB opened an investigation into overtime he filed for in July and early August, sources said.
On Aug. 27, he was administratively transferred to the 25th Precinct in East Harlem. Such transfers typical happen when someone is under investigation.
He did not respond to requests for comment but sources said that after the transfer he enlisted the help of various public officials and others with ties to the NYPD in an effort to get Tisch to reconsider her decision.
A letter was drafted on his behalf, sources said, but does not appear to have been sent to Tisch.
The Rev. Kevin McCall, a community activist and civil rights leader, said he knows Jablonsky as someone who spent his career “devoting himself to serving the community.”
It was not immediately clear if Jablonsky, whose last day will be Oct. 9, will get the so-called good guy letter that retirees often use to maintain their gun license and work future security and investigation jobs in the private sector.
At the end of last year, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey retired after he was accused by an underling, Lt. Quathisha Epps, of demanding sex from her, sometimes at One Police Plaza, in return for overtime pay.
Epps, working in an administrative position, in fiscal year 2024 earned more than anyone else in the department, $400,000, including $204,000 in overtime. Maddrey has denied the allegations, which are now the subject of a joint city and federal probe.
In the wake of the scandal, Tisch replaced the head of IAB and ordered that each NYPD bureau have an overtime compliance officer responsible for filing monthly reports and explaining any overtime hours that exceed a new monthly cap.
Originally Published: September 11, 2025 at 1:50 PM EDT