A newborn baby was found abandoned inside a women's restroom at the ShopRite in White Plains' City Center shopping complex early Sunday morning, prompting a police investigation and a search for whoever left the infant behind. Paramedics rushed to the baby's aid and the child was transported to White Plains Hospital, where officials listed the newborn in stable condition.
Emergency personnel were called to 13 City Place early Sunday morning, according to News12 New York. The ShopRite anchors the ground level of the City Center retail complex, a store that per ShopRite normally operates daily from 7 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday, and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays. Police officers secured the scene once they arrived, per police.
Search Underway For Whoever Left the Infant
The White Plains Police Department's Criminal Investigations Division is investigating the incident as a potential child-abandonment case, the outlet's report notes. Westchester County Police K9 teams are searching for the person who abandoned the infant, according to officials, and the Harrison Police Department is also searching for that individual, per the same account. Authorities are urging anyone with information to contact the White Plains Police Department at 914-422-6111.
The location where the baby was found sits close to where she was ultimately treated. White Plains Hospital, at 41 East Post Road, is situated approximately 0.4 miles from the City Center complex at 13 City Place, according to Sonesta White Plains Downtown — a short distance that allowed responders to get the newborn stabilized quickly.
Why a Store Restroom Doesn't Count as a Safe Haven
New York's Safe Haven law is designed to ensure the safety of newborns and to prevent tragic incidents like Sunday's, the report states. Under the state's Abandoned Infant Protection Act, first enacted in July 2000, a parent can anonymously relinquish a newborn without fear of criminal prosecution, as long as the child is left unharmed with an appropriate person or at a safe facility, according to the Office of Children and Family Services. Lawmakers expanded that window in August 2010, when New York enacted Chapter 447 of the Laws of 2010, extending the safe surrender age from five days old to 30 days old, per the New York State Senate.
Surrendering an infant 30 days old or younger at an approved site serves as an affirmative defense against child abandonment, a Class E felony, and endangering the welfare of a child, a Class A misdemeanor, under New York Penal Law § 260.00 and § 260.10, according to Nassau County Government. But that protection only applies at designated, staffed locations — hospitals, police precincts, and firehouses. Unstaffed public spaces like a retail store restroom don't qualify, according to NYC311, since they lack the immediate medical care or direct supervision the law requires. That distinction is why leaving a baby in a supermarket bathroom triggers a criminal investigation rather than legal immunity, even though the intent may mirror what the law was written to allow.
A Statewide Hotline — and a Pattern of Public Abandonments
Parents in crisis can reach a 24/7 confidential toll-free hotline at 1-866-505-SAFE (7233), which the Office of Children and Family Services operates to connect callers with approved surrender locations in real time. Sunday's discovery in White Plains is not an isolated case in the region. In October 2025, emergency responders in Manhattan rescued a newborn girl left wrapped in a blanket at the 34th Street-Penn Station subway entrance, transporting her to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition, according to Newsday. Hoodline also previously reported on a newborn found in a Bronx trash can.
State lawmakers have continued pushing to modernize the surrender process. Legislation introduced in the New York State Assembly in May 2025, Assembly Bill A8649, proposes creating the Safe Haven Baby Box Act, which would authorize climate-controlled surrender boxes at staffed emergency facilities statewide, according to the New York State Senate. Similar devices have already taken hold elsewhere: in Ohio, a mother in Plain City pleaded guilty this month to gross abuse of a corpse tied to a 2023 infant abandonment, a case that helped inspire central Ohio's first Safe Haven Baby Box, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of the Plain City guilty plea. It remains unknown who left the baby at the White Plains ShopRite, whether the birth took place inside the restroom itself, or how aware area residents are of the safe surrender hotline and designated drop-off sites — questions that remain open as the investigation continues.
