Philly lawyer says GoFundMe page for Florida retirement was a prank

A lawyer for the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee, who makes more than Mayor Jim Kenney, was looking for a little retirement help from his friends.

“I have just enough money budgeted until I am 85, but am now concerned since I’ve gotten in better health, I may live longer,” Steven Kaplan wrote on a GoFundMe page he created last week. “I’m not sure my current savings, pension and Social Security will last my entire life if I live past 100.”

Kaplan, who said his employment with the city will end on March 31, plans to move to his condo on Williams Island in Florida in May. He was seeking $175,500 on the crowdfunding site to make the transition a little easier on him.

“It has been very difficult flying back and forth to my condo every weekend for the past 10 years,” he wrote. “I will keep you in my daily prayers for anything you can do to make this dream a reality. Thank you.”

But the page was “just a joke,” Kaplan told Philly Clout, the Philadelphia Daily News’ city hall blog this week. “Ninety-eight percent of the people laughed, but, believe it or not, a couple people got upset.” He later told the blog that “99.9 percent got it.”

“Why would anybody give me money?” Kaplan said. “The last thing that I need is money.”

As of Friday afternoon, Kaplan has raised $22 toward the $175,500 goal of his fake fundraising campaign.