An investment banker punched an unsuspecting MTA worker in a Brooklyn subway station Friday, landing him in jail with an assault charge.
Tanya McCray, 56, was leaving the “crew room” just after midnight at the Stillwell Avenue station when she noted Jean-Francois Coste, a senior equity analyst at Tocqueville Asset Management – trying to get inside, the New York Post reported.
As the area was restricted to employees, McCray informed an allegedly intoxicated Coste that he could not enter – that’s when he punched her in the face.
“I didn’t see him punch me,” she said. “I didn’t see the punch, it happened so fast,” McCray stated per the outlet.
Nevertheless, McCray fought back, striking Coste with her punchbag and thermos. When another MTA worker came to her aid, Coste ran away down the platform, the New York Post reported. (RELATED: Group Of 4 Teens Allegedly Punched, Cut Man On Subway)
“All the workers from the crew room come out and run after him,” a union spokesman told the outlet. “He jumped on a train and the transit workers cornered him.”
Drunk investment banker arrested after slugging MTA worker in face: officials https://t.co/GVPXLhgjYc pic.twitter.com/g1UcJC6Vdf
— New York Post (@nypost) December 18, 2022
McCray was taken to a local hospital for treatment and assessment of her injuries. “I just hope justice is served. I hope he sees jail time,” McCray told the Post. As a 21-year veteran of the MTA, McCray added, “It’s not fair that people think they can just assault us and ok. It’s not ok. We’re just here to do our job.”
Transit workers are planning to attend Coste’s scheduled hearing in March to stand in solidarity with McCray, the New York Post reported.
“Train operators work at all hours of the day and night to keep this city moving,” he said. “We have zero tolerance when they are senselessly attacked and are grateful to the NYPD for swiftly apprehending the suspect,” NYC Transit Chief Operating Officer Craig Cipriano told the New York Post.
Coste was arrested and charged with assaulting a transit employee, harassment and menacing and was released without bail, the outlet reported.