I lived in New York City for four years, and truly it is a bewildering place. Even though I grew up in northeast Philadelphia, moving and working in NYC completely changed my life and perspective on it. Despite all the fun and incredible people I met, it genuinely made me immune to reacting to anything I came across in public.
In New York, the unofficial mantra is “keep it moving.” But every now and then something happens that is genuinely shocking, and the case of a newborn girl abandoned in a subway with her umbilical cord still attached is truly one of those things.
The New York Post reported on October 20, 2025, that a baby girl was discovered in such a state at the bottom of the subway stairs at 34th Street-Penn Station. A Good Samaritan who found the baby called 911. Authorities took the small girl to Bellevue Hospital, and she was reportedly in stable condition.
“I’m calling it the Miracle on 34th Street, the FDNY and police department responded, they found a baby that was unattended,” New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow told ABC 7.
The state’s Abandoned Infant Protection Act allows parents to anonymously leave a newborn up to 30 days old in a safe haven like a hospital, fire, or police station, according to The Daily Mail.
On October 22, ABC News reported that a woman was officially arrested after police identified her via security cameras. New York Police Department officers arrested Assa Diawara, 30, in Queens on charges of child abandonment and endangering the welfare of a child.
Investigators followed a trail of surveillance footage and tracked her taking a car service to Jamaica, Queens. Police canvassed the area where she was dropped off and were able to identify her via a neighbor. Police claim she admitted to abandoning her daughter but have not revealed details on her motive.
