(The following story by Rocco Parascandola appeared on the Newsday website on March 18, 2009.)
NEW YORK — Cops assigned to counterterrorism duty are trained to watch for the unusual. Wednesday, three New York Police Department officers inside Penn Station spotted something most unusual – a woman stepping off the escalator and about to give birth.
Moments later, the officers, assisted by an Amtrak officer, were helping deliver a baby boy.
Marie Boothe, 29, her husband Jonathan Boothe and New York City’s newest citizen were taken to Bellevue Hospital Center for some conventional medical assistance and rest.
Both mother and son, named Casear, were in good condition.
The officers – Debra Garbutt, Ernest Huang and Marie Medina, plus Amtrak Officer Karen Schrof – stopped by later to pose for pictures and congratulate the new mom.
The 7:20 a.m. birth happened as the NYPD officers, who are assigned to the Manhattan South Task Force, were conducting routine counterterrorism patrol on the main mezzanine of Penn Station, near the Eighth Avenue exit, police said.