NEW YORK—After the clock struck midnight marking the arrival of the New Year, two families were competing to produce the first New York infant in 2009.
At 12:10 a.m. little Zenia Hussain, weighing 7 pounds and 13 ounces, was born at Flushing Hospital Center, according to the mayor’s office.
However, she wasn’t born early enough. About a mile away at the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, a 6 pound and 3 ounce Grace Pak, managed to arrive a minute earlier.
As part of the longstanding tradition of congratulating the first New Year’s baby, both families expected to receive Mayor Bloomberg’s greetings in person.
The mayor decided not to disappoint either of them. He managed to make his way to both hospitals on Thursday morning. The two families were both celebrating.
Zenia became the third child of Sameera Hussain and Soheel Hussain. Grace is now the fourth child, and the only daughter of Sun Young Lee and thrilled father Kyoung Pak.
Wherever the mayor goes, he never forgets to find a good successor for himself. As he picked up the girls at the two hospitals, he said to each of them respectively, “This girl could grow up to be the next mayor. Maybe they’ll run against each other.”
Although the two families strived to produce the earliest newborn in New York City, in neighboring New Jersey, a newborn boy is probably the first born in the entire United States.
At one second past 12:00 a.m. Edgar Rafael Moreno was born in Livingston’s Saint Barnabas Medical Center, the first child of Edgar Moreno and Miris Moreno.
