The most pleasant type of commotion hit the newly constructed World Trade Center PATH station early Tuesday morning. Forget train delays — instead, 6-pound, 14-ounce newborn baby girl Asenat Abdrabo decided to enter the world like a true New Yorker: in a subway concourse.
Around 2:30 a.m., an expectant Marwa Abdrabo, accompanied by her husband and two-year-old son, began making her way to the hospital when her baby decided she had other plans. “She felt the baby coming, and the officers prepared the area and aided for a possible birth,” the Port Authority said in a statement. With the assistance of one NYPD officer in particular, 34-year-old Brian McGraw (who has delivered one other baby in his tenure while on duty), Abdrabo gave birth just minutes later.
“I guess a few of the guys looked to me to get in there and handle the situation,” Officer McGraw told The New York Times of the experience. “I’ll never forget this day.’’
Governor Andrew Cuomo took to Twitter to congratulate the family, noting that Asenat was the first child born at the World Trade Center since 9/11 (prior to the attacks, 17 children were born on the site).
Congratulations! @PANYNJ police delivered a baby on the WTC PATH platform early this morning—the first baby born at the WTC site since 9/11.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 4, 2015Making your life debut underground in the world's greatest city may not be the most conventional move, but hey, it certainly is a memorable experience. Welcome to New York, baby.