Most of the victims of the September 11 attack seemed tragically random -- they were just going to work. Not John O'Neill. Until last August, he'd been the FBI's top expert on Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, a lead investigator of the USS Cole and African embassy bombings. Leaving the Bureau in frustration, he'd taken a job he thought of as retirement: World Trade Center security chief. But when he died it became clear: His own life contained as many mysteries as his enemy's.

Activist and councilman James Davis played his own brand of Brooklyn-style political hardball. But Othniel Askew threw out the rule book.

Lynne Stewart’s self-defense.

Our city has a habit of going broke. This time, at least, it's not our fault.

Howard Safir had a posse -- a group of black leaders he used to insulate himself from blacks.

War: What is it good for? My career!

When members of a high-school football team on Long Island were accused of sexual attacks, the community was appalled . . . some by the crimes, others by the cancellation of the season. Now the boys may face adult charges, the victims are being ostracized, and the locals are divided.