It began like any other day, with the usual routines and conversations that filled Ahmed Diallo's too-short life.

He took the subway Wednesday from his Bronx apartment to the Union Square station and arrived about 2 p.m. at the spot outside the convenience store at 248 E. 14th St. where he had sold video tapes, CDs and cassettes for about a year.

Diallo wore a blue jacket and Yankees 1998 Championship baseball cap. He carried a sports bag full of videos, which he displayed on a collapsible table.

"He was shining that day," recalled Raz Chowdhury, 27, who owns the C & B Convenience Store a few feet from Diallo's usual spot. "He knew Thursday was coming soon, and Thursday is a good business day because everyone in the area gets paid."

But by day's end, he would be dead — an unarmed man cut down in a fusillade of 41 bullets fired by cops.

Yesterday, Diallo's friends on 14th St. and his Soundview neighbors remembered the kind, mild-mannered man and how he spent his last day.

"There's no question that we were his family," said Saifur Rahman, 42, the co-owner of a neighboring gift store, who noted that the Ahmed Diallo had few close relatives living in New York. "It's heartbreaking."

Like any other day, these 14th St. merchants, most of whom are Bangladeshi, made change for Diallo, watched his wares while he prayed and chatted with the 22-year-old West African immigrant on his favorite subjects: basketball and Islam.

That afternoon, Diallo — who earned $25 to $50 a day — ducked into Rahman's 14th St. gift store to make change for $10. Rahman jokingly gave him another $10 bill in return.

About 7 p.m., Diallo had a heart-to-heart talk with Arju Chowdhury, 33, a storeowner whom Diallo had often encouraged to stop drinking alcohol, which is forbidden to Muslims.

That night, Diallo packed up his table and left for home about 11 p.m.

He returned to his apartment around the same time as his roommate, Momodou Kujabi, 33.

"We sat down and talked about the Con Edison bills, and he told me he was going to go and pay it in the morning," said Kujabi. "Then I went to bed."

Shortly afterward Diallo was dead.

-The spot where Diallo used to work on 14th street.