A drunk banker charged with beating an MTA employee at a Brooklyn subway station has been suspended by his Manhattan investment firm, the firm said Sunday.
Jean-Francois Coste, 53, was benched by Tocqueville Asset Management, the midtown investment firm where he has worked for nearly 15 years, after he assaulted MTA worker Tanya McCray at a Coney Island subway station early Friday morning. was placed in
“Mr. Coste has been suspended from the company with immediate effect,” the company said in a statement. “Tocqueville Asset Management has a complete intolerance of acts of violence and will take necessary action pending further investigation.”
A Tocqueville spokesman declined to say whether Coste was suspended for pay or for nothing.
Police said Coste allegedly punched McCrae at about 12:15 a.m. at the Stillwell Avenue station as he came to work.
Officers said McCray confronted Coste when a drunk banker tried to enter the station’s employees-only area.
The MTA veteran also counterattacked the attacker with a lunch bag containing a thermos, leaving Coste with scratches and a black eye.
Coste took off after the assault but was cornered by transport workers and arrested by police, officials said.
He was charged with assault, harassment and intimidation and was released without bail.
The Legal Aid Society, which represented Coste in Friday’s arraignment, said Coste has since hired a private attorney.
The suspect was confined to his Boerum Hill in Brooklyn, Brownstone on Sunday.
A spokesman for the transport union’s Local 100 said McCray exited the station’s “crew cabin” when he spotted Coste trying to enter the restricted area.
“This is not a public place,” said a spokesperson. “He was clearly drunk. She pushed the door so it clicked shut and he hit her in the face at least twice.”
According to his LinkedIn profile, Coste has been with Tocqueville since February 2008, where he currently works as a senior equity analyst.
He graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in 1993 and previously holds an MBA in Finance from NEOMA Business School in France.
Coste’s profile has been removed from the Tocqueville company’s website since the attack, and he has made his Instagram and Facebook accounts private.
He is scheduled to return to court in Brooklyn on March 1.
Friday’s attack came two days before a female MTA worker was randomly socked in the face with a nut at a Times Square subway station, and a male colleague was violently kicked in the leg as he tried to knock him down. police said.
“We will not tolerate attacks against transit workers,” said Craig Cipriano, chief operating officer of the New York City Department of Transportation, in a statement. So it’s outrageous to have a senseless attack every two days.”
“We appreciate the NYPD’s prompt arrests in both the Coney Island and Times Square incidents and wish the injured workers a speedy recovery.
Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer