Gowanus Houses residents say the recent violent arrest of a man mistakenly identified as a drug dealer is a reflection of the long-running issues they've seen with how police interact with people in and around the public housing development.

“It’s infuriating,” Quentin Heyward, a resident of the Gowanus Houses, said of the viral video of the arrest in the liquor store, BK Wine Depot. “When things like this happen, it just removes any form of credibility and trust.”

Other residents said they were mortified by the violence, but added that it was only the latest example of strife between NYPD officers and residents in the gentrifying neighborhood. An oft-repeated complaint: officers unnecessarily stop residents and can be aggressive near the housing complex, which is located a block from Smith Street, a popular commercial corridor.

In a video recorded by a bystander on Tuesday, officers are seen repeatedly kicking and punching a man inside the store on Hoyt Street near Baltic Street in Gowanus. As the officers — one in plain clothes and the other wearing an NYPD vest — hit him, the man falls and cuts his leg on a broken wine bottle and starts bleeding on the floor, the video shows.

The NYPD later determined the man, whom police and city officials have not named publicly, was not involved in selling drugs. He was charged with resisting arrest and was released later on Tuesday, police said, but the Brooklyn district attorney’s office said it does not plan to prosecute him.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the footage “deeply disturbing” and said the officers involved were placed on modified duty and their guns and shields had been taken away. She did not identify them.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the arrest “extremely disturbing and unacceptable” in a statement on social media. But Scott Munro, the president of the union that represents the officers, pushed back in his own statement, saying “when an NYPD detective is making an arrest, there is no 'right' to resist.”

Gothamist attempted to speak with the man who was arrested and his family Thursday at multiple addresses and phone numbers, but they could not be reached or declined to comment.

"We try not to interact"

Resident Tabitha Enrique, 40, was with her friend Natalie Hook at a convenience store across the street from the Gowanus Houses complex a day after the arrest.

Hook and Enrique said they each had a parent who served in the NYPD, but they try to avoid police in the neighborhood because they don’t want to be stopped by officers.

“We stay away from them pretty much. We try not to interact. It's like an unspoken word,” Enrique said. “Like you just leave them alone and hopefully they leave you alone.”

She said officers in the neighborhood have stopped and asked her to show her identification multiple times when she was not doing anything wrong, and feels that kind of policing erodes trust between the NYPD and residents.

“As a whole, the department has a very nasty taste in our community's mouths,” she said. “There are very, very few that actually treat us like human beings. And those are usually the ones that look like us.”

Neither the NYPD nor the Detectives' Endowment Association immediately responded to questions about the issues raised by residents.

A 2021 study by the City Council found that the population of the neighborhood's two community boards had grown steadily wealthier and whiter from 2006 through 2019. In that time, the median incomes for white households in the area shot up to $150,000, while those for Black and Latino households stagnated between the $40,000 and $50,000 range.

Enrique said she has two young boys and coaches them on how to deal with police if they are ever stopped by them: Keep their hands out of their pockets, do not raise their voices and talk to officers with respect.

“My boys don’t look like little white boys,” she said.

History of strife

Quentin Heyward, who has lived in the housing complex most of his life, was on the sidewalk outside the liquor store Wednesday afternoon.

In 1994, his 13-year-old brother, Nicholas Heyward Jr., was playing cops and robbers with a toy gun in the development when a police officer shot and killed him after mistaking the toy for a real weapon.

The killing drew nationwide media coverage and an outpouring of support for Quentin’s father, Nicholas Heyward Sr., who became an outspoken activist against police brutality.

“This community has been through a lot when it comes to police violence,” Quentin Heyward said.

He said he knows the man police tackled in the liquor store on Tuesday, and was incensed when he saw the video of the incident.

“It just set off so many emotions — sadness and anger, frustration — because primarily, I know that individual. He is one of the nicest guys,” Quentin Heyward said. “I can't think of any reason for that, for any individual to go through that, but him especially.”

One of the man's neighbors said he knew immediately that he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“When I seen it on the news, first thing I said was, ‘They got the wrong person,’” said Charles Edwards.

Edwards said the man works as a security guard and loves to talk about his favorite sports team, the Los Angeles Lakers. He said he’s upset that the incident happened but is relieved that someone was there to record it.

“I just hope justice [will] be served like it’s supposed to,” he said. “The video speaks for itself.”