Mother of baby abandoned at Penn Station found and arrested in Queens

The 30-year-old mother of a baby girl found abandoned at Penn Station in Midtown earlier this week has been arrested.

Assa Diawara was located in Queens just before 3 a.m. on Wednesday and arrested by police.

She is facing charges of abandonment of a child and endangering the welfare of a child. She expected to appear in court sometime Wednesday.

Police released a photo of her carrying the baby who was found at Penn Station on Monday.

An anonymous tip led police to the child at the station on W. 34th Street and 7th Avenue just before 9:30 a.m. The baby girl was found wrapped in a blanket at the bottom of a staircase leading to the 1/2/3 train platform.

Police say surveillance video shows Diawara outside Penn Station. They followed a trail of several videos and said they found another of Diawara taking a Cadillac car service back to Jamaica, Queens, which they tracked using technology. Back in her neighborhood, detectives canvassed the area where she was dropped off and a neighbor recognized her from the surveillance footage.

Detectives confronted Diawara and she allegedly admitted to abandoning her newborn daughter.

On Monday, the baby was taken to a local hospital by police and was said to be conscious and alert. Her condition was described as stable.

New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow called that "the miracle on 34th Street."

"I'm calling it the 'Miracle on 34th Street,' the FDNY and police department responded, they found a baby that was unattended," Crichlow said. "The baby was taken to the hospital and is in stable condition, we don't have any other additional information on top of that, but just grateful for the work of the NYPD for responding and caring for the baby."

New York's Safe Haven Law was created to protect unwanted babies, allowing parents to legally and anonymously abandon a newborn. The baby has to be under 30 days old and left in a suitable location like a hospital or a staffed police or fire station.

The baby can be left in a Safe Haven Baby Box but someone most be notified. To get help or find a location, there is a Safe Haven hotline -- 1-888-510-BABY.