The terror suspect charged with killing eight people by driving a truck down a New York bike path has now threatened to decapitate a jail officer, US prosecutors say.

Sayfullo Saipov, 32, is said to have made the threat on December 18, after the officer's supervisor told him to stop obstructing a security camera in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

According to prosecutors, Saipov first threatened to kill the officer of December 17, accusing him of frequently waking him at night by slamming a door.

In a Tuesday night court filing prosecutors said they want to introduce the incident as 'proof of future dangerousness' during the penalty phase of Saipov's case, if he is convicted at his April 20 trial.

In a Tuesday night court filing, the Department of Justice said Sayfullo Saipov made the threat on December 18, after the officer's supervisor told him to stop obstructing a security camera in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan

Other recent MCC inmates have included the late financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, convicted Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, and Cesar Sayoc, who mailed pipe bombs to prominent Democrats

Saipov, a 32-year-old Uzbek national, has pleaded not guilty to charges including eight counts of murder, 18 counts of attempted murder and providing material support to Islamic State militants. He could get the death penalty if convicted. The scene in 2017 is pictured

Saipov, who legally moved to the US from Uzbekistan in 2010, allegedly drove a rented pickup truck down a bike path along Manhattan's Hudson River on October 31, 2017, killing eight people before crashing into a school bus.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the deadliest assault on New York City since September 11, 2001.

Saipov has pleaded not guilty to charges including eight counts of murder, 18 counts of attempted murder and providing material support to Islamic State militants. He could get the death penalty if convicted.

He told the supervisor he would keep blocking the security camera until the officer's head was cut off, and called the officer an animal, prosecutors said.

Saipov later told the jail's disciplinary committee he had told the officer that if he dared to open his cell, in two minutes 'other guys will be picking up your dead body,' and that he wanted to 'cut this animal head off,' prosecutors said.

The government is also seeking permission to introduce other kinds of evidence during Saipov's trial and penalty phase.

It said these include terrorist propaganda materials, photographs from the October 31, 2017 attack, and statements Saipov made in court since his arrest that showed his support for Islamic State and jihad and questioned the court's authority.

One note shows three drawings of the ISIS flag with Arabic text which translates to 'No God but God and Muhammad is his Prophet' and 'Islamic Supplication. It will endure' That is a phrase prosecutors say is 'commonly used to refer to ISIS'.

Investigators work around the wreckage of a Home Depot pickup truck a day after it was used in a terror attack in New York. Saipov, who legally moved to the US from Uzbekistan in 2010, allegedly drove a rented pickup truck down a bike path along Manhattan's Hudson River on October 31, 2017, killing eight people before crashing into a school bus

Other recent MCC inmates have included the late financier and registered sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, convicted Mexican drug lord Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, and Cesar Sayoc, who mailed pipe bombs to prominent Democrats.

Michael Avenatti, the lawyer who represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels in lawsuits against U.S. President Donald Trump, is housed at MCC awaiting two criminal trials, following his Feb 14 conviction for trying to extort Nike Inc.

Federal public defenders representing Saipov did not immediately respond on Wednesday to requests for comment.

Nicholas Cleves, 23, Darren Drake, 32, Ann-Laure Decadt, 31, and friends Diego Enrique Angelini, Ariel Erlij, Hernan Ferruchi, Hernan Diego Mendoza and Alejandro Damian Pagrucco were all killed in the attack.