By Albert Silvestri
According to police, the baby was discovered on the sidewalk just before 1 p.m., when Michael Santiago, an employee of Brooklyn's Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, walked out of his home on DeKalb Avenue in Ridgewood and saw the bag moving. The infant was found wrapped in a yellow shirt with his umbilical cord still attached and clamped with a clothespin. Santiago notified authorities and the baby was taken to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, in serious but stable condition, according to hospital sources. Millie Pujos, assistant director of community affairs and government relations for Wyckoff, said the infant boy was held at the hospital for five days and was scheduled to be discharged Wednesday.”They checked his health and now he's doing great,” Pujos said. Police said that witnesses noticed a 5-foot-tall woman leaving the area shortly after the baby was found. Police said a K9 team was brought to the area to help find the woman but no leads have been found.The child will be turned over to the New York City Administration for Children's Services since no relatives have been located.As of October 2003, 45 states, including New York, had passed some type of safe haven legislation, which permits a person to abandon a newborn baby at a safe location. The majority of states designate hospitals, emergency medical services, fire stations and police stations as safe locations. New York state's law stipulates that the baby may be left with a suitable person or in a suitable location as long as an appropriate person is promptly notified. Because the Ridgewood infant was left without any notification it is unclear whether or not the parent would be prosecuted. “She just left him on a stoop,” Pujos said, “Thank God somebody found him.”
