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The woman told the police she had given birth shortly before leaving the child in a busy passageway as rush hour died down. The baby’s umbilical cord was still attached.
Oct. 22, 2025, 9:36 a.m. ET
A 30-year-old Queens woman accused of leaving a newborn girl at a busy subway station in Manhattan was charged early Wednesday with child abandonment, the police said.
The woman, Assa Diawara, was also charged with child endangerment for leaving the infant inside the 34th Street-Penn Station subway stop, the police said.
The newborn was found on Monday at the bottom of a staircase leading to the northbound platform of the No. 1 train line, according to the police and an internal police report.
Ms. Diawara told the police she gave birth to the child before abandoning her, according to a second internal report.
On Monday, the police had received an anonymous 911 call around 9:30 a.m. reporting the child in the subway passageway, according to the first report and investigators inside the station.
The baby had been placed on the floor by a water drain, the investigators said. Her umbilical cord was still attached.
Officers took the child to Bellevue Hospital, the report said. She was in stable condition, conscious and alert.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Chelsia Rose Marcius is a criminal justice reporter for The Times, covering the New York Police Department.
