NYC Welcomes First Newborns Of The New Year
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two New York City babies are ready for their close-ups. The newborns -- a girl in Brooklyn and a boy in Manhattan -- shared the honors of being first to arrive in the new year.
Alishba Waseem was born at the stroke of midnight at Coney Island Hospital. The baby's mother, Mehnaz Rasool, father Muhammad Waseem Khan and their two daughters welcomed the newest addition to their family two days earlier than expected.
"I was about to do my last push and then the whole staff counted down for me like when it was 10 seconds left [to midnight]," Rasool told 1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan.
Podcast
1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan reports
"I'm thankful to God that everything happened safely. My baby is safe. She's fit, like physically, mentally she's alright. So that's a big thing. That's a blessing for me," she said.
A few miles away at SUNY Downstate, Dr. Winston Neckles delivered another New Year's baby girl, but said it was just like any other delivery.
Podcast
WCBS 880's Ginny Kosola reports
"It's just another day. I mean we feel honored that we were able to deliver the first life [of the New Year] into this world," he said.
Neckles said the mother of Princess Avana Andrews was in active labor and "able to deliver her baby girl at the top of the hour."
New York's first baby boy was born on the Lower East Side.
Marta and Jacek Kozlowski named their son Kacper, the Polish word for treasure.
"We'll probably never forget this New Year's Eve and New Year's day -- ever," Marta Kozlowski told CBS 2's Dave Carlin.
"We certainly, probably never had one like this in our lives and probably will never have one like that again," she said, "all I personally care about is that he was born healthy and that's pretty much it."
