The city has agreed to pay $2 million to the parents of an unarmed Brooklyn teen who was fatally shot by a police officer three years ago. In January 2004, police officer Richard Neri was patrolling a Brooklyn rooftop with another officer at 1AM. Around the same time the other officer had opened a door to the stairwell, Timothy Stansbury and his friends were heading upstairs, to go to a party in another building in the Louis Armstrong Houses development by crossing over the roofs. But Neri had fired his gun and Stansbury died an hour and a half later. The NY Times has a particularly evocative illustration of the circumstances of the death. more ›

In May 2003, the NYPD were trying to raid a CD priacy ring at the Chelsea Mini-Storage. A cop, Brian Conroy, walking the dark labyrinth of the facility ended up fatally shooting Ousmane Zongo, an immigrant from Burkina Faso who had been working on African art in another storage unit. Yesterday, Zongo's family accepted a $3 million settlement from the city as an "apology" to end their wrongful death lawsuit. The city Law Department said, "The city shares its sympathy with the Zongo family and we hope this settlement helps bring closure to his family in this very tragic case." The NY Times describes the other trials against Conroy:

During [the past two years], the officer, Bryan A. Conroy, was tried twice for the killing, producing a mistrial on manslaughter charges, a conviction for criminally negligent homicide, and a sentence of five years’ probation and 500 hours of community service. He was also fired from the Police Department. He has appealed his conviction and sentence. more ›

Car Alarms on summer nights from the Gothamist Contribute stream-- mails yours to photos (at) gothamist. more ›

- Some of L.A. gets a blackout; so far, it doesn't seem to be Al Qaeda but rather some "overzealous cable cutting"... however, it's unlikely that blackout babies will be conceived, since power should be going up soon more ›

" and "I feel badly for him. I don't believe he's a horrible person. I don't believe he's a racist. He made a reckless mistake, but I respect the other jurors for their opinions, too." Plus, it turns out that the majority thought Conroy was guilty, with only one holdout, when the jury was deadlocked last Friday; then, another person joined the holdout. more ›

There are two extremely high-profile trials around town: more ›

Zongo's family has also filed a $150 million civil suit against the city for wrongful death. A translator for Zongo's widow said that while she's angry and upset, "She believes in American justice, that justice will be done." more ›

The Times has a good run down on the scene of the Chelsea mini-storage shooting last week. The incident occured on the third floor, in a warren of fluorescent lit hallways, after a plainclothes officer encountered Ousmane Zongo and shot him four times. The Times describes the third floor as something out of Alice and Wonderland, but the pictures on the CMS website remind me of the secret hallways in the Matrix Reloaded. more ›