NEW YORK — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced Thursday that Michael McCloskey, 42, has pleaded guilty to the unprovoked stabbing of a 65-year-old carpenter at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in April 2024. McCloskey entered a guilty plea to one count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree in New York State Supreme Court. He is expected to receive a 13-year prison sentence, followed by five years of post-release supervision.
“Today, Michael McCloskey was held accountable for stabbing a man in an unprovoked attack at a public, densely populated transit hotspot,” said District Attorney Bragg in a statement. “Although the victim has thankfully recovered, he must live with the physical scars this attack has caused.”
The attack occurred on April 22, 2024, at approximately 5:40 a.m. According to court documents and McCloskey’s admission in his guilty plea, the victim, a carpenter, was waiting for a coworker at the terminal and sitting near the Hudson News store when McCloskey approached him from behind. Without provocation, McCloskey stabbed the man nine times in the neck, throat, back, and arm. The victim was rushed to Bellevue Hospital, where he received 47 stitches and underwent further treatment.
Port Authority Police officers, who were patrolling nearby, heard screams and quickly arrived at the scene, where they found McCloskey standing over the victim while holding a knife. He was arrested on the spot.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant D.A. Sidney Balman III, with assistance from Trial Bureau 60 and the Port Authority Police Department. Officer Jordan Eugenis, Officer Antonio Peterson, and detectives Kevin Horowitz and Alberto Barrera were among those involved in the swift response and investigation.
McCloskey is scheduled to be sentenced on October 17, 2024.
