NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A Brooklyn councilmember was arrested on Wednesday morning for allegedly biting an NYPD officer while protesting with the Bensonhurst community over the construction of a new homeless shelter.
About 150 people were participating in a rally outside of the site at 2501 86th St., near 25th Avenue, when Councilmember Susan Zhuang allegedly bit the officer.
She was charged with second and third-degree assault, resisting arrest and second-degree obstructing governmental administration, police said.
Some of the other protesters were taken into custody, and several officers sustained minor injuries, according to police.
Zhuang, who represents Bensonhurst as part of New York City Council District 43, joined the crowd of protesters claiming that the construction did not have a permit and therefore was unlawful.
In a video posted by Zhuang on X just before 6 a.m., an hour after she claims the construction began, her and other protesters dialogue with a uniformed NYPD officer, demanding to see a permit posted for the project.
“They do not have the permit,” Zhuang is heard stating. “You can only protect the developer, there is no public protection.”
The officer claims that “We have the permits,” before thanking the demonstrators and walking away.
Citizen App video from the scene shows the large crowd chanting and carrying American flags and signs, which included statements like “Affordable Housing Not Shelters,” and “Keep Our Kids Safe: No Shelters near Playgrounds or Schools!”
The rally was gathered around the construction site, which was behind a barricade maintained by a number of officers.
Guardian Angels founder and former mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa also posted a video to X from the scene, which showed an escalation as protesters attempted to break through the metal barricade, Law enforcement officials can be seen trying to keep it in place.
Sliwa wrote that the shelter was being built “with NO consent from the community, or their Council Member Susan Zhuang!”
“Zhuang stood up for her community, and was arrested this morning protesting this shelter,” Sliwa said. “WE STAND WITH SUSAN ZHUANG and the entire Bensonhurst community against unsafe shelters in residential communities!”
He said that the landlord of the property bought it and immediately accepted a city contract “in an area where residents are already dealing with grappling crime,” claiming that the shelter's construction is dangerous for both residents and unhoused people who need care.