This Article is From Jul 08, 2014

Baby Girl is Abandoned at Subway Station

Baby Girl is Abandoned at Subway Station

This undated image provided by the NYPD shows a baby in a stroller abandoned in a subway station in New York, Monday, July 7, 2014.

New York: The subway train doors opened at the Columbus Circle station around noon on Monday, and a woman stepped out onto the platform pushing a stroller with a 6- or 7-month-old girl inside. Moments later, the police said, she stepped back into the train alone.

On Monday evening, the police were still trying to determine the identities of the abandoned baby girl and the woman who had left her. They released pictures of the child sitting in a red and white polka-dot stroller and asked for the public's help in identifying her. They later released a video of the woman.

The baby was unharmed and in stable condition at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center on Monday night.

She was in the custody of the city's Administration for Children's Services awaiting placement, a spokesman for the agency said.

The police said they believed that the baby was left at the station intentionally, as no one had come forward to inquire about her.

The woman who left the child on the platform appeared to be in her 20s or 30s, and was wearing a yellow short-sleeve blouse. She was riding a northbound No. 1 train.

The infant was found by a 33-year-old woman who passed the stroller on the platform. After staying with the child for about 20 minutes, she called the authorities.

The Columbus Circle station is one of the most bustling stops in the transit system, hosting throngs of visitors even between rush hours because of its proximity to Central Park, among other attractions. More than 70,000 riders travel through the hub each weekday, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, making it the seventh busiest subway station last year.

On Monday evening, Curt Goldman, 37, and his wife pushed their 7-month-old infant in a stroller as they walked near the Columbus Circle station. The father, who had just exited the subway, said he was shocked by the news.

"To abandon a child that age is unconscionable to me," he said. "They need to have everything done for them at that age."

He said that the woman might have chosen the crowded station because she wanted to make sure someone would easily find the child.

"Maybe there was some forethought," he said.

© 2014, The New York Times News Service
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