A woman has been arrested for abandoning her newborn daughter on a rush hour subway platform at Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, police sources said Wednesday.
Assa Diawara, 30, was nabbed late Tuesday for allegedly leaving the infant at the foot of a staircase on the downtown No. 1 train platform at the 34th St.-Penn Station stop about 9 a.m. Monday.
Diawara was arrested near her home in Jamaica, Queens, and charged with abandonment of a child, police sources said. The baby is her daughter, police sources said.
She was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court Wednesday.
She was caught on surveillance video wearing a red head scarf, pink pants, glasses, and a multi-colored top that might be a hospital gown as she took the baby, who was wrapped in a blanket and cradled in her arms, down into the train station, cops say.
Commuters found the baby alone on the subway steps moments later and called the police.
Medics took the newborn, whose umbilical cord was still attached, to Bellevue Hospital where she was in good health and undergoing an evaluation.
Cops released surveillance images of the suspect on Tuesday and asked the public’s help identifying her and tracking her down.
