The New York City Legal District said the city would pay $ 625,000 to settle a lawsuit a mother filed against the police for the latter's extraction of her 18-month-old child from her arms.
The Guardian newspaper - which published the news - said that Yasmine Headley filed a lawsuit against the city last August on the grounds of shock and insult, and demanded compensation - unspecified - for the incident that took place in December last year at the Office of Benefits in Brooklyn, and testified In front of the city council in February.
One of the attendees had filmed the scene in a video widely circulated on the Internet.
The city made a public apology, and passed legislation aimed at improving the way people are treated in benefit offices and making the system more transparent.
Mother's lawyer said in a statement that Headley had, with her courage, turned the worst ordeal of her life into an opportunity to transform the entire city.
In the video, police officers were seen pulling Headley's child from her over a dispute with a security guard, and then arrested her for four days, before Brooklyn prosecutor Eric Gonzales abandoned charges of obstructing government administration, resisting arrest, and endangering the child's life.
Gonzales said he was terrified of the apparent violence in the video, and the situation should have been dealt with in a different way.
Headley claimed that her child had suffered physical, mental and other injuries, and that her name and photo would be forever associated with that painful and violent experience.
The video sparked outrage among viewers, who said it showed how social service recipients were treated.
Headley's lawyers said that she insisted that this incident was not only related to her, but with the dignity of every young, colorful woman who looked after her family with great love and hard work in a difficult world.