Authorities in New York City have pressed charges against a woman for allegedly abandoning a newborn at a subway station.

According to police, 30-year-old Assa Diawara from Queens was identified as the woman seen on surveillance footage before purportedly leaving a baby girl, who was discovered alive at Manhattan’s Penn Station on Monday morning.

The New York Police Department reported her arrest early Wednesday on charges of child abandonment and endangerment.

Officials had previously sought public assistance to identify the woman captured on video holding the infant.

Investigators were on the lookout for an individual who reportedly entered the 34th Street-Penn Station Subway on the southbound “1” train platform, abandoning a female infant wrapped in a blanket on October 20, 2025. (NYPD Crime Stoppers)

The infant was discovered around 9:30 a.m. local time Monday on the stairway leading to the southbound No. 1, 2, and 3 trains at the 34th Street–Penn Station stop, according to police reports. 

Officials were alerted after an anonymous caller reported seeing the baby left unattended on the steps at West 34th Street and 7th Avenue.

Construction near Penn Station in New York, US, on Thursday, July 13, 2023.  (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

When first responders from the FDNY and NYPD arrived, they found the baby wrapped in a blanket, conscious and alert. The baby was then taken to Bellevue Hospital.

Her umbilical cord was still attached, FOX 5 New York reported. 

The identity of the infant’s parents has not yet been publicized.

A newborn was discovered wrapped in blanket on subway stairs at Penn Station New York. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Per New York’s Safe Haven Law, parents are allowed to legally and safely surrender newborns at hospitals, police precincts, or fire stations without facing criminal charges as long as the child is left in the care of responsible personnel.