City Comptroller Scott Stringer said Friday he’s reviewing the city’s proposed $40 million settlement with the Central Park Five — the five men who were wrongly convicted for the beating and rape of a jogger in 1989.
As the city’s chief bookkeeper, the comptroller must approve the hefty payout.
“We have now received documents related to the Central Park Five jogger case,” Stringer said. “We have begun a due diligence process, and we will view that settlement as to what’s in the best interest for our city as well.”
Stringer suggested the settlement — triggered by a $250 million federal civil-rights suit against the city — would get deference.
“We’ve had no role in the negotiations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Rev. Al Sharpton planned a “Central Park Five Vindication Rally” Saturday morning at the National Action Network in Harlem.
The jogger herself, Trisha Meili, who has written a book about her recovery and has become a Florida-based advocate for people overcoming injuries and disabilities, declined to comment through a colleague.
“She’s just really past it now,” said the colleague, Dick Traum. “It’s just, a quarter century has gone by.”