Happy 'Noel' For Trash-Bin Baby
BY LIZ GOFF

A tiny newborn was found naked and stuffed in a paper bag in a Corona trash bin on December 17. The baby was rescued by four teenage boys who were skateboarding in the area who heard the baby crying.

The baby girl is in good health in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Elmhurst Hospital Center, where staffers have fittingly named her Christina Noel. Doctors said the 4-pound, 9-ounce, 17-inch baby was born three weeks premature and was about three-hours old when she was found and believed she was lucky being found when she was since she was suffering from a low body temperature but was not hypothermic. Doctors also said they are conducting tests on the baby to determine if she had any drugs in her system

Christina Noel will spend her first Christmas resting in the warmth of an incubator, said hospital spokesperson, Jacki McCann. "She is alert, doing very well, and getting lots of love," said McCann. "And she is very, very cute."

Police sources said the baby has dark brown hair, blue-gray eyes and could be Hispanic. They are continuing their search for the baby's mother and are asking anyone with information to call the CRIMESTOPPERS Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS.

Because the mother did not utilize the "Safe Haven" law police said the mother, when she is caught, could be charged with reckless endangerment or endangering the welfare of a child.

Authorities said there are places where women can leave children they don't want - no questions asked - including police stations, fire houses, hospitals and churches.

"If this mother, whatever her circumstances, had done the right thing there would be no cause for arrest," law enforcement sources said.

Christina Noel, her umbilical cord still attached, had been in the trash bin outside a construction site at 93-18 Lamont Ave. for about 30 minutes when the four teens skateboarded by, police said.

Brian Moncada, 13, and his brother, Christopher, 15, told police they heard the baby's cries at about 8 p.m., as they skated by with two friends on their way home from a nearby store. Christopher told police he opened the lid of the trash bin to peek in. The teen moved a quilt that had been placed over a paper bag, unwrapped the bag and found the baby laying face down inside of it. "I was completely shocked," said Moncada. "The baby looked like it was suffocating, so I opened the bag so it could get more air."

Moncada said he turned the baby on her back and she started kicking and waving her hands and feet. "She was completely naked, so I wrapped her in the quilt," he said.

Two of the teens called 911, while the two brothers skateboarded one block to the 110th Police Precinct for help, police said. Police and an ambulance raced to the scene and hurried the baby off to the hospital.

FDNY paramedic Giovanni Cabalero said it is nothing less than a Christmas miracle that the baby survived. "If she had been in there any longer she might have suffered severe hypothermia," Cabalero said. "Things could have been very bad for her."

Police said no one has so far come forward to claim the baby, and investigators are continuing their search for the mother. "It's sickening to think someone would do this to such a tiny baby," a law enforcement source said. "What kind of person would do this?"

Christina Noel will probably be released from the hospital this week and will be placed in foster care, said McCann, and will be available for adoption in about six months, if she remains unclaimed by her parents, said a spokesperson for the city Administration for Children's Services.

Prospective parents hoping to give Christina Noel a permanent home should call 212-676-HOPE, authorities said.