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A 48-year-old man was stabbed to death inside a Brownsville NYCHA complex Wednesday evening — a brutal killing residents say underscores long-standing fears about safety inside the city’s public housing developments.
Police say the victim, Kevin Coleman, was attacked just after 5:30 p.m. inside the Langston Hughes Houses on Sutter Avenue. Officers from the 73rd Precinct arrived to find him suffering from multiple stab wounds. Coleman, who lived about a mile away in East New York, was rushed to Brookdale Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No arrests have been made. No suspects have been identified. And neighbors are once again left asking how a fatal stabbing could unfold inside a NYCHA building with cameras, guards, and long-promised security upgrades.
According to law enforcement, officers responded within minutes of the initial 911 call reporting an assault in progress. But by the time they reached the hallway where Coleman was found, the attacker was gone.
Detectives remained on scene late into the night, canvassing the building for witnesses and reviewing available surveillance footage.
The NYPD has not released possible motives, and investigators say it remains unclear whether Coleman knew his assailant.
Residents at the Langston Hughes Houses told officers and reporters that violence inside the development is not new — and that they’ve repeatedly demanded working cameras, improved lighting, and more visible NYPD or NYCHA security patrols.
Some tenants say they fear walking to their apartments after dark, describing unreliable door locks, broken intercoms, and stairwells that attract trespassers.
Others quietly admitted the killing did not shock them.
“People here complain all the time that nobody listens until someone ends up dead,” one resident said. “Now it’s happened again.”
NYCHA did not immediately return a request for comment on safety conditions at the complex.
Detectives are asking anyone with information about the stabbing — including neighbors who may have seen someone fleeing the area — to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS or submit online tips anonymously.
All tips will be kept confidential.
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