(August 2017) New York: "Pit bulls are just killing machines. They’re not animals."

NEW YORK -- A man was bitten by a "vicious" pit bull during a drug-related fight in the Biltmore, a swanky West 47th Street apartment building, Friday morning, sources said.

The 27-year-old man, who was bleeding from gashes on his arms as he was wheeled out on a stretcher, was attacked on the ninth floor of the luxury building at 271 W. 47th St., near Eighth Avenue, about 9 a.m.

"There was so much chaos. Cops were running around. I just heard a blood-curdling scream. It was really high-pitched. It went on for maybe two minutes. I heard it coming down the elevator. It was really, really loud," said Benjamin Stueben, 37, who lives in the building.

The victim had been fighting over an unspecified drug issue with another man, 34, who had been restraining the dog by holding it between his legs, an NYPD spokeswoman said.

"The guys were fighting in the hallway. One guy had the dog and he was telling the dog to attack. He was saying, 'Sic him! Sic him!'" said Shawn Ulibarri, 50, who lives on the ninth floor and watched the fracas through his peephole.

"The dog attacked the guy. He was growling and shaking his head back and forth. The guy getting attacked screamed, 'Call the police! Call the police!'"

Both men, whose names weren't immediately released, face criminal charges, the spokesman said.

Both were treated at Bellevue Hospital where they're listed in stable condition, an FDNY spokesman said.

The dog was barking as it was wheeled out in a covered crate.

Sources described it as "a good-sized dog, very vicious."

"We had to dart him. Then we noosed him," an Emergency Services Unit officer at the scene said.

It wasn't immediately clear if either man lived in the building.

A woman who picked up the phone at the Biltmore hung up on a reporter asking about the incident. Management didn't immediately respond to email.

Actor Amanda Bynes was famously ousted from her apartment at the Biltmore, where two bedrooms can go for nearly $6,000 a month, after a stint of bad behavior including hurling a bong from her window and smoking weed in the lobby.

Neighbors were, understandably, shook up.

“The police told us to stay in our apartments. I didn’t know if it was a hostage situation or a bomb threat.”

The woman said she has noticed the pit bull before the mauling.

“He’s aggressive,” she said. “When he’s waiting for the elevator, I go back in my apartment.”

Gilles Grenier, 58, has lived in the apartment building for 14 years. “I remember hearing loud screams,” Grenier said.

“I reported that dog when they moved in. Pit bulls are just killing machines. They’re not animals. They need to be muzzled.”

(DNA Info - August 28, 2017)