A newborn baby girl with the umbilical cord still attached has been found abandoned at a New York City train station.
The baby, wrapped in a blanket, was found at the bottom of a staircase leading to a train platform at Penn Station during rush hour on Monday morning, Oct. 20.
After the newborn was reported abandoned via an anonymous tip, the emergency services rushed to the scene and took her to a local hospital.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) said the baby was “conscious and alert” when she was found and once at Bellevue Hospital, her condition was said to be stable. No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, according to US media.
The NYPD is now sifting through surveillance footage to find out who left the infant behind. No information on any individual who may have left the baby in the subway has been released.
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New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said: “I’m calling it the ‘Miracle on 34th Street’, maybe just a little earlier, we had an infant that was reported anonymously at the 34th Street station, when the FDNY and police department responded, they found a baby that was unattended.”
Under New York State’s Abandoned Infant Protection Act, a parent can abandon a newborn baby up to 20 days old and without fear of prosecution, as long as the child is abandoned in a safe manner at a suitable location. This may include a hospital, staffed police station or a fire station.