Judge sentences man to 10 years in prison for stabbing MTA worker
Banks pleaded guilty to attempted murder after attacking the worker with a large kitchen knife, stabbing him in the back and underarm. The victim was hospitalized and out of work for months.
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A man who nearly killed an MTA employee is now off the streets — and it will be a decade before he returns.
Jamar Banks, 53, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in state prison and five years of post-release supervision for stabbing a 47-year-old MTA worker on the Pelham Parkway train platform in January. A judge also issued an order of protection.
Banks pleaded guilty to attempted murder after attacking the worker with a large kitchen knife, stabbing him in the back and underarm. The victim was hospitalized and out of work for months.
“It was an assassination attempt,” said Transit Workers Union President John Chiarello.
Chiarello said the victim was the fifth person Banks has stabbed.
The day before the Pelham Parkway attack, Banks stabbed a 35-year-old man on a Manhattan subway.
He was already sentenced to 10 years in that case — and he will not face additional time for the second assault. Both 10-year sentences will be served at the same time.
Banks was arrested dozens of times, which Chiarello says raises serious concerns about public safety.
“He’s been through the system, so why is he out again doing the same thing over and over? That’s insanity,” Chiarello said.
He added that an increased police presence in the subway system is a step forward but not enough to keep transit workers safe.
“Transit workers come to work to move New York City — why are they being assaulted?” he said. “They don’t think of us as human.”
The union called the sentencing a step in the right direction but said a harsher penalty would have sent a stronger message.
It also hopes that Banks receives mental health treatment before his release.
