Now it seems Mr. Holder has also upset Reverend Al Sharpton--by refusing to bring a federal case against the police officers who shot Sean Bell in November of 2006. (The officers were acquitted of state charges in April of 2008.)

In a press release, the Department of Justice said it had conducted a "comprehensive independent investigation" of the event--including double-checking the ballistics tests performed by the NYPD--and found there was insufficient evidence. "Neither accident, mistake, fear, negligence nor bad judgment is sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation," reads part of the statement.

"I expressed to [Mr. Holder] my extreme disappointment in the decision and our legal advisors saw the evidence and federal jurisdiction differently," Mr. Sharpton wrote to his Facebook page from Miami this afternoon, after speaking with the attorney general this morning. "Even though two of the three officers in question were Black we will not stop our pursuit of justice in this matter until every measure in the criminal and civil arena has been exhausted. Fifty shots on an unarmed man who engaged in no crime is intolerable."

Mr. Sharpton said he would be meeting with the family of Mr. Bell and their attorneys when he returns from Miami tomorrow to chart a course of action.

Bloomberg said he'll sign this bill, like he's done with other street renaming situations, rather than weigh into the fights about which particular streets and names are at issue. Or, as Bloomberg put it today, "rather than just enflame the situation, I will sign the bill."

Street renamings are one of the major activities that keeps people busy on the other side of City Hall, where the debate over Sean Bell has been raging.

Al Sharpton hopes the city will so honor the late 23-year old, who was shot and killed by police officers in 2006. The detective's union thinks it's a "disgraceful" idea. The City Council's Parks and Recreation Committee voted in favor of the idea today, with Queens Councilwoman Liz Crowley abstaining.

That sends the bill to the full Council, where it could get contentious. "No one held more hearings regarding this tragedy than I did, but learning from mistakes and naming a street after a mistake are completely different things," Peter Vallone, Jr., the chair of the Public Safety Committee, told Azi Paybarah today. Fellow councilmembers Jimmy Oddo and Vinny Ignizio also said they'll oppose it.

Voting in favor of it was Helen Foster of the Bronx , Alan Gerson of Manhattan, Letitia James of Brooklyn and Helen Sears of Queens.

Liz Crowley of Queens abstained [corrected]. The issue now goes before the full City Council where things may get interesting.

UPDATE: Vinny Ignizio, a Republican from Staten Island, said he opposes the renaming of a street in Queens after Sean Bell.

The union representing detectives is opposed, as are at least two City Council members.

Jimmy Oddo, a Republican, told me via email he is against the renaming. 

So does Peter Vallone, Jr., a Democrat and chairman of the Public Safety Committee. "No one held more hearings regarding this tragedy than I did," Vallone told me, "but learning from mistakes and naming a street after a mistake are completely different things."

UPDATE: Unprompted, Eric Ulrich emailed to say: "I will also oppose the street re-naming."

At the 2:46 mark, Aborn said, “I think these are highly trained cops. In this case, they could have done things differently. But in terms of criminal culpability, there was none and the court found that. The court found that what they did, as tragic as it was, and this is a tragedy in the truest sense of the word, what they did was justified. And once a court reaches a decision, that the shooting was justified, all the charges fall away.”

When asked for comment about the video, Aborn spokeswoman Alexis Grenell said, “Richard watched this video with Mr. and Mrs. Bell and discussed with them their shared goal of improving relations between the community and the police. After watching the video and discussing these issues with him, the Bells enthusiastically endorsed his candidacy."

Bell’s parents, William and Valerie, said in a public statement that Aborn “has placed real emphasis on making sure that law enforcement and the community cooperate with one another. In order to improve relations, we need to work together, and a strong, respectful relationship between the police and the community is necessary for effective law enforcement.”

Aborn said he was “deeply moved and humble” to have their support.

It’s not the first endorsement from the family of well-known crime victim.

Stanley Patz, whose six-year-old son, was abducted and presumed killed in the 1970s, endorsed another candidate in the race, Leslie Crocker Snyder. She drew criticism at the endorsement event with Patz when she said she would bring a grand jury proceeding forward against the alleged murderer. Critics said it may prejudice the case to announce before an investigation a vow to bring legal action.

First, the State Liquor Authority stripped the notorious strip club of its liquor license. Now, health inspectors have shuttered the topless juice joint for a number of unsanitary conditions, including evidence of mice.

At a press conference about a personnel matter in his midtown office, Paterson told reporters to go to the oil companies and “ask them why, the week after Katrina—the Katrina Hurricane—August 29, 2005, ask them why the gas prices went up in that week.

"It couldn’t have had anything to do with the gas," Paterson charged. "Because gas delivery took place three weeks before then. They sold you the same gas that was in their tank the week before at—at some points—10 to 15 percent higher.”

Paterson added, “We can diminish the tax on them, but there’s no guarantee they’re going to pass that along to the consumer.” He went on to say that if there was such an assurance from oil companies and distributors, he would sign the bill. (In either case, its support in the Assembly is not firm).

The governor called the press conference to announce that he is hiring his “great friend and old opponent,” Galen Kirkland, to head the state's Division of Human Rights. Kirkland and Paterson ran for the State Senate against each other four times.

When asked if the civil rights of Sean Bell had been violated, Kirkland said, “That’s something we’ll have to look at.”

The mayor made it clear that he didn’t regard it as helpful. “This is a police department that works and doesn’t exactly need more oversight [from the federal government],” he said. He also said that the judiciary committee should look into the police departments in other cities where the crime rate is higher.