Mother of baby abandoned at Penn Station subway stop charged with endangering child

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NEW YORK (AP) — The mother of a newborn girl who was abandoned at a busy midtown Manhattan subway station with her umbilical cord still attached was arrested early Wednesday, city police said.

The 30-year-old Queens woman was taken into custody shortly before 3 a.m. and charged with abandoning and endangering a child. She was expected to appear in court later in the day Wednesday.

Her arrest comes a day after police released images of a woman wanted for questioning and asked the public's help in identifying her. The woman was recorded in a 2-second security camera video clip on a busy city sidewalk carrying something that appears to be wrapped in a bundle and holding it like someone would hold a baby.

The baby girl was discovered Monday morning in a passageway at the 34th Street-Penn Station subway stop during the typically crowded morning rush hour. The subway stop is attached to the broader Penn Station complex — the country’s busiest rail hub, which sits underneath Madison Square Garden arena.

The infant was unattended and wrapped in a blanket, police said. She was taken to a hospital for an evaluation and listed in stable condition. Police were called to the scene on reports of an unidentified person leaving the baby at the station and leaving on foot.

It was not immediately clear if the woman had a lawyer who could respond to the allegations. A phone number listed for her home was out of service Wednesday.

A team from the city's Administration for Children's Services was "deployed to ensure the ongoing well-being of the baby,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“I’m calling it the ’Miracle on 34th Street,' " Demetrius  Crichlow, president of New York City Transit, told reporters on Monday, alluding to the classic Christmas movie.

New York has a law, enacted in 2000, that allows a parent to relinquish a newborn up to 30 days old to locations such as a hospital, or a staffed police or fire station without fear of being prosecuted. Under the state's Safe Haven law, the parent must promptly notify an appropriate person of the infant’s location.

Liyan Bao, senior vice president for child welfare at The New York Foundling, one of the city's oldest child welfare agencies, said babies used to be left on the agency's doorstep 150 years ago. But today, support is available to New York parents, such as a new short-term respite program launched this summer for parents facing a crisis.

“Services are available,” she said. “And I really would encourage for families in need to reach out.”