By Nathan Duke
A family from Bayside and another from Flushing welcomed the first two babies born in the five boroughs within the first 10 minutes of 2009, while a Richmond Hill family’s newborn son was the first delivered in the state during the New Year.
Sun Young Lee Pak, of Bayside, gave birth to 6-pound-3-ounce Grace Pak nine minutes after midnight at Flushing’s New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, said Daniel Pak, the baby’s father.
Pak, who was born in South Korea, said he was shocked to learn his child was the first born of the New Year.
“I was pretty surprised,” he said.
Sun Young Lee Pak went to the hospital on New Year’s Eve around 9 p.m. and gave birth just slightly more than three hours later, Daniel Pak said. Grace will be the first girl in the family, which has three sons, he said.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited Grace and her mother at the hospital around 11:30 a.m. the following day, Daniel Pak said.
“It was wonderful — we really enjoyed it,” he said. “The mayor told me he wants the baby to be a great person for New York City.”
Sun Young Lee and Grace Pak left the hospital Friday, a spokeswoman for New York Hospital Medical Center said.
The year’s second baby – Flushing’s Zenia Hussain – was born one minute after Grace Pak at Flushing Hospital Medical Center to Soheel and Samera Hussain, said Dr. Andrew Rubin, a hospital spokesman. The family, which originally hails from Pakistan but lives in Flushing, could not be reached for comment.
Rubin said Zenia weighed 7-pounds-13-ounces when she was born at 10 minutes after midnight. She has two brothers.
The mayor also visited the Hussain family following Zenia’s birth, the spokesman said.
But Yaakov and Leah Richter, of Richmond Hill, have the bragging rights for the first infant born in 2009. Their still-unnamed boy was delivered at New Hyde Park’s Long Island Jewish Medical Center. The boy was delivered four seconds after midnight, Yaakov Richter said.
“He was born just a few seconds after midnight and we were really excited,” Richter said.
The boy has two brothers and three sisters, Richter said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
