Rev. Al Sharpton said today that federal prosecutors will not pursue a civil rights case against the police officers who shot and killed Sean Bell in a barrage of 50 bullets outside a strip club on the day of his wedding. According to 1010WINS, after reviewing the shooting, federal attorneys decided against pressing charges. Though the police officers involved in the incident were acquitted of manslaughter charges in 2008, friends and family of Bell—who recently had a street renamed in his honor—urged authorities to take the cops to court for violating the 23-year-old's civil rights. But Sharpton said Bell's family has been informed that there will be no federal case. more ›

Three years before voting to rename a street in of honor an unarmed 23-year-old who was killed in a barrage of police bullets, a Queens Community Board rejected an application to rename a street in honor of a police officer killed in the line of duty. So following the board's controversial vote in favor of "Sean Bell Way," the family of deceased officer John Scarangella has again applied for a street renaming to memorialize the slain cop. But the chairwoman of Community Board 12, Adjoa Gzifa, opposes the renaming. "For every police officer that puts on a uniform and carries a gun, if they should perish in the line of duty, does that mean we have to rename a street for them?" more ›

It's official. Mayor Bloomberg has signed into effect a controversial street renaming that will honor an unarmed man who was gunned down by police in a barrage of 50 bullets on the day of his wedding. more ›

While the naming of three blocks in Queens after police shooting victim Sean Bell is scheduled to take place next month, apparently that's not soon enough for some community activists. The City Council approved the street naming earlier this week, but, according to the Post, Rev. Omar Wilks said, "We are here to say that as a community who loved Sean Bell, who struggled, who protested ... for Sean Bell, we're not going to wait for the mayor to sign off on his approval. The community, we are going to take charge and the community's going to put a street name up for Sean Bell." Mayor Bloomberg has said he will sign "Sean Bell Way" into effect; the Post adds that a mayoral spokesman "said it is illegal to rename a street without city approval." more ›

Opponents of the proposal to rename a three-block stretch of Liverpool Street after Sean Bell — a 23-year-old who was killed by police in a barrage of bullets on his wedding day — continued to lash out against the plan even after City Council voted overwhelmingly to approve it yesterday. "A City Council that places a man who nearly ran over police officers in the same category as heroes who risk their lives for us all every day needs to no longer have the authority to do street renamings," said Councilman Vincent Ignizio (R-Staten Island), who according to the Post voted early in the meeting and left in protest. more ›

City Council overwhelmingly approved a plan to rename the street where police shot and killed Sean Bell, voting 41-7 (with two abstentions) in favor of the proposal, according to a Council insider. The decision clears the way for converting a three-block-long Queens strip into "Sean Bell Way" to honor the 23-year-old who died in a salvo of police bullets on the day of his wedding. more ›

With the City Council set to decide whether or not a Queens street should be renamed after Sean Bell, the Reverend Al Sharpton spoke out in favor of the renaming. In 2006, Bell was killed and two of his friends were injured when undercover police fired upon their car, thinking they were armed (they weren't). Yesterday, Sharpton, who was joined by City Councilman and City Comptroller-elect John Liu, said, "This has something to do with our community embracing and using as example a young man that was on his way to doing what was right and his community rallied around him. That's what streets are named for." more ›

Last spring, Queens Community Board 12 voted to re-name a street after Sean Bell, the 23-year-old groom who was killed in a hail of bullets three years ago by police, and yesterday it was approved by a City Council committee as part of 70 new street names. The City Council is set to vote on the proposal on Monday and it's sparking some controversy among representatives and officials who oppose the implications of the naming. more ›

A Queens community voted to name a block after the man who was killed there in a hail of police gunfire. NY1 reports that "Liverpool Street between 94th and 95th Avenue [will be] 'Sean Bell Way.'" Sean Bell had been celebrating the night before his wedding at a strip club-lounge when he and his friends were caught in a confusing confrontation with police—undercover cops thought Bell and his friends had a gun (they were unarmed) while Bell and his friends thought the cops were trying to carjack them—that left Bell dead and his friends injured. (The cops were later found not guilty.) Bell's family was happy with the decision; his mother told NY1, "It was one good stepping stone, because my son's name will be seen out there on the street," while his fiancee Nicole Paultre Bell said, "I just want people to realize the person who Sean was, and he was a great man. And this tonight proves that there are people who do understand. And do realize that he was a great man, a great role model." more ›