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NYC To Parents: Watch Your Baby!

Guess the babyWhat makes people think they can not watch their babies? Are baby-sitters that expensive? Are their babies that much a hassle? Is take-out too much to ask for? We ask these questions because a couple left their 2 month old baby in their room at the Waldorf-Astoria while they went to lunch over the weekend. A maid that came into the room discovered the baby sleeping in a crib all by his lonesome; the hotel staff then contacted the police, who took the baby to a hospital for observation and then arrested Michael Regamey, a 50 year-old Swiss man, on charges of child endangerment, when he returned to the room. His wife, who was not arrested, went the the hospital with their 2 year-old son who they took to lunch with them. Today, she told the Post:

We are nice people and good parents. It's just a matter of a different culture. We just have to blame it on ourselves, and that's it. I agree with the [American] system, and I really appreciate the way they do it. I understand if it keeps us safe.
The couple had lived in NY for a some time, but was scheduled to return to Europe soon. Regamey was released and will be expected in court in October. Now, this is not the first time that foreigners have left their child unattended, leading NYC (and the tabloids) to freak out: In 1997, a couple left their baby in her stroller outside Dallas BBQ on Second Avenue in the East Village. The mother, a Danish woman, would go on and on about how babies are left in strollers outside restaurants all the time as an excuse, but it turned out the husband was from New York, which makes that excuse pretty flimsy. The only baby that seems to have done okay when left alone was Moses, and those were extenuating circumstances. If there's one thing New Yorkers don't stand for, it's babies without their mommies or daddies, because we love accessories!

There's Urban Baby, which is a must read if you're about to have a kid in the five bouroughs. And check out Daddy Types for what the cool daddies are doing. Another cool daddy is Ben MacNeil, who charts his daughter's progress for his wife (so she can see what's going on at home while she's at work) and others at The Trixie Update.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

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  • priscilla

    As a mom, this story was crazy--- my daughter has NEVER been without a caregiver present, sleeping or not and she is almost 2 yrs old.



    Even if the baby didn't have any choaking hazards- the sheer terror of waking up without anyone around to respond to his/her crying is pretty traumatic.



    Abandoned baby at the waldorf- this isnt USA vs Europe-- this is working class sensibility confronting upper class stupidity.



    There is room service after all....

  • Chris

    We have a British stroller with the plastic tarp (looks like the baby is wrapped for freshness or something). It is great in the rain -- that's a country that knows rainy weather. I wouldn't leave him outside alone, though, not here or anywhere. With his sister, maybe, if I could see them both.

  • cbob

    New York Parents are the worst. They are so paranoid. I have heard people say that they wouldn't even go to their apartment building mailbox in the lobby when their child is sleeping. In the suburbs we mow our yard while our child is sleeping. --A Parent of 3

  • brendan

    Van Helen, anyone who thinks Leona Helmsley would be allowed into the Waldorf Astoria, or would stoop to go there even if allowed, is not qualified to raise children. Maybe dogs, though.

  • adrienne

    i just got back from 2 weeks in denmark and they really do leave their babies in strollers outside on the sidewalk. it's just that safe there. i even saw a stroller with a baby out in the rain with some weird plastic tarp thing over it. that said, i wouldn't do it in nyc.

  • Chris

    Oh, come on. What are the odds on any of these things? Checking into the W-A to abandon your baby? Maniacs invading? How many hotels have you stayed in that had a fire alarm, let alone a fire? I'm with Sensible Person, although having lived in England for three years, I certainly saw a LOT of babies outside shops in their strollers. The ADA doesn't apply over there (of course!), and hauling strollers in and out is a lot harder than here. I've got a six year old and a six month old, so I think I've got a little perspective on the situation.

  • sheila

    how is the maid, or anyone else who may have rightly/wrongly entered the room to know how long the baby was in there?

    for all anyone could know, the baby was abandoned. calling the authorities was the only way to go.

  • Van Helen

    I go through all sorts of 'what if' scenarios when I leave my dog alone at home for 15 minutes. And I'm not a control freak, my dog's just a troublemaker with a bad barking habit and my neighbs are whiners.



    But knowing what I go through to make sure my dog is happy so my neighbors are happy so we're all able to live together definitely makes me think I'd do something more thoughtful than leave a 60-day old infant alone at the Waldorf.



    I mean what if Leona Helmsley snuck in and ate it? Or the Hilton sisters walked into the wrong room and made a sex tape video with it or stole off to Vegas and tried to marry it?



    What pisses me off is that some asshole maid called the cops.



    Tell management to call the guests on their cell phone or quietly back out of the room and let it scream its head off until it falls asleep again. But don't call New York's finest about a snoozing fatty in dy-dees.



    Coppers got a busy docket as it is this week, for example, arresting B-movie actresses like Rosario Dawson pretending to protest the RNC or deliberating on the rights of impermeable graffitios like Bike Against Bush boy....You know, dangerous NYC crimes.



    I have to admit thought, once I left my dog at the groomer's, went to work, then got into a car accident, and was unable to pick up my dog until closing time. All I could think about was, what if I'd been hospitalized or killed, my dog would be stuck in a small cage at Donna's Dog Wash forever. As it was, when I finally did pick him up they'd shaved him within an inch of his life. So much for trusting a responsible sitter.

  • Sensible person

    People, there's nothing wrong with leaving a sleeping baby in a hotel room for an hour. Get a hold of yourselves. If you really think the child is at risk of being harmed by a hotel employee, you are so risk-averse you should never leave the house.



    Granted, the sidewalk stroller thing is nuts.



    That said, most of the people who overreact to these New York stories are not New Yorkers, they are people who think New York is more dangerous that it is.



    Thank you.



    Sensible person

  • homeopt

    Exactly, Kristen. Why is that so difficult to comprehend. No one is saying that you need to watch a baby 24-7 when you are in the safety of your own home.



    But how stupid can you be to leave your baby unattended in a hotel room?



    People like that don't deserver children.

  • Kristen

    what's dangerous about leaving the baby napping in a hotel is the fact that employees can come and go as they please... all it takes is one nut job and bye bye baby...

  • hijiki

    ok, 990000, that's actually the point i was going for. what they did was unwise, but not such a big deal to arrest them.



    homeopt, it's not hard to see that nancy was merely requesting civility not telling you to shut up. breathe in - breathe out. it's all gonna be just fine.

  • homeopt

    Nancy,shut your pie hole. You think you're the only one allowed to express an opinion ?

  • wait-- I wasn't discussing the law, stupid idiot. let's get that part straight. it was just a personal opinion about where to draw the line in leaving one's own child unattended. in any case, I am not the type to tell someone what to do (nor try to punish them for such actions).

  • stupid idiot

    leaving a baby unattended in a reasonably safe place for an hour is not child endangerment. we might not choose to do it ourselves, but it's no place for the law to make that judgement and arrest other people for it. wouldn't driving a baby in a car pose more of a threat than leaving him/her in a crib? i'll answer that one: yes. how far are you going to let the law reach when it comes to assessing risks for your children? the line has to be drawn somewhere.... what's the time limit before you throw a parent in jail?

  • Nancy

    990000 and homeopt, take it easy. I'm sure there is some sort of blog protocol that should be applied here. It's not my blog, but kindly refrain from insults. Dang.

  • hijiki, you are a piece of work.

  • homeopt

    A baby in his crib at home while you sleep is much different than leaving a baby in a hotel room where you have no control over who enters the room.





    Only a stupid idiot would do the latter and/or defend it.

  • Michelle

    Wow, I can't believe some of these comments. I really hope that those of you that do not understand the seriousness of leaving a child unattended for an hour are not parents. And when you put a child down for a nap, hopefully, for the child's sake you do so that you can hear into the room, maybe with a monitor. Leaving a child unsupervised for so long is so irresponsible. Yeah, most scerarios are "what ifs" but how do you think accidents happen? They are not planned for and usually not expected. The least that you can do is behave in a reasonable way so to prevent them.

  • A more important question: who is the baby in the picture here? Is that a lil' baby Jen Chung? Do I win a prize?

  • Eva

    hijiki, I agree with you, anything can happen anywhere, not just in NYC. These people flew in a plane with their baby, does that mean they should go to jail because...what if the plane crashed???

  • hijiki

    you can make what-ifs for anything. what if someone bombed the restaurant? no, i don't have children, but i'm not telling parents how to care for their children.

  • nina

    hijiki, you don't have children. the "what ifs" when it comes to a child's life life are pretty big.

  • hijiki

    990000, a fire emergency is about as likely as a gas leak exploding at the lunch place. you can make up any scenario... bad things can happen anywhere. was it endangerment to fly the baby to nyc in the first place? this is the same mentality that srubs the baby in anti-bacterial soap and leaves the AC on for the cat.

  • I still think it's crazy. *a lot* can happen in a New York hour. god forbid there is a fire emergency and the building is emptied and they prevent anyone from re-entering the building. this means you will have to leave it to some stranger to rescue your kid. that said, it all depends on how far you are from your child when you leave them. a stone's throw? a floor below? 10 stories? a city block?

  • joe

    This would have been a much more interesting story if the maid took the baby home with her instead of reporting the incident to the police.

  • hijiki

    i don't get it... what's so bad about leaving a baby safe inside while having lunch? to me, it sounds invasive and reactionary to harrass these people.

  • Nancy

    Actually, the "the baby could choke and die" was the sarcastic part. I am of the Max persuasion that it's just not that big of a deal. I've only encountered Americans who are absolutely indignant at the idea of a napping baby left to nap alone.

  • Max

    Ummm, this seems a little much. I am a deep/heavy sleeper. The fact that I can sleep through a baby crying- for 8 hours- does that make me negligent and ripe for arrest? People leave their babies alone all the time- it is called a nap. What they forgot was to leave the "Do not Disturv" sign out. I would assume that there were no chocking hazards in the crib and if the W-A is safe enough for the President of the United States I would think it is safe enough for any of us.

  • NY'er

    990000, I think Nancy was being sarcastic.

  • for an hour? are you #@$*! crazy?

  • Nancy

    Okay, granted, leaving a baby in a stroller outside and unattended is pretty weird and unsafe, no matter the culture, but leaving a baby napping in your hotel room for an hour while you have lunch with your spouse seems perfectly reasonable to me. Sure, the baby could choke and die, but seriously.

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