Police search for man who abandoned 1-year-old girl in Times Square

A 1-year-old girl was left in a stroller in the heart of Times Square late Tuesday night, near West 44th Street and Seventh Avenue, setting off a police search and a review of surveillance video in one of Manhattan’s most heavily watched corridors.

New York Police Department officers responded to a 911 call reporting a possible abandoned baby or child abuse situation. Police said the child appeared to be unharmed, conscious and alert when officers found her, and she was taken to Northwell Greenwich Village Hospital for evaluation. Later reports said the girl was dressed in a pink onesie.

Investigators are now looking for the man they believe left her there. Police sources said video from the area showed a man in jeans and a dark jacket pulling the stroller to the spot and walking away. Detectives are reviewing the footage as they try to determine where he came from and where he went next. Some investigators believe he may frequent the Times Square area.

The child was also reported to be in the custody of the Administration for Children’s Services while the investigation continues. That placement shifts the case from an immediate rescue into a longer system response, with child welfare officials now responsible for the girl’s care while police pursue the abandonment inquiry.

The case has also renewed attention on New York’s Abandoned Infant Protection Act, a law designed to give parents a narrow, anonymous way to surrender a newborn safely and avoid prosecution. Under state guidance, the law took effect in July 2000 and was amended in August 2010, when lawmakers raised the age limit from 5 days to 30 days. It applies only to newborns and only when they are left in a safe manner at designated locations such as hospitals, fire stations, police stations or houses of worship.

That distinction matters in this case. Police have described the child as 1 year old, well beyond the law’s protection. The statute was written to offer a last-resort option for infants, not a legal shield for abandoning an older child in a public place.

The scene drew a blunt reaction from bystanders in Times Square, where the evening crowd and constant video coverage can turn a private crisis into a public one within minutes. One witness summed up the shock in two words: “It’s so cold.”