NEW YORK — A new baby is always a big deal, but when you can say your baby was the first born in the new year, the moment is even more special.
CBS2 was honored to meet the city’s newest New Yorker.
Kingsley Mei was born at the stroke of midnight Sunday morning, making him the first baby born in the Big Apple in 2023.
“This is the best gift for me for this year,” mother Holly Zhang said. “I have the ‘New Year Baby,’ the first one in New York City.”
Proud mama Zhang said giving birth to the first baby of 2023 came as a very big surprise.
“Everyone just looked at the clock and say it’s exactly 12 o’clock. I said, ‘Wow, that’s amazing,” she said.
Kingsley came into the world at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn Health weighing a healthy 6 pounds, 7.6 ounces, and measuring 19 inches.
Mom said she planned for a birth elsewhere, but on the way to the hospital by train, her water broke.
“I feel so scared, especially in the nighttime, so the NYPD was came and say ‘We’re going to send you to the closest [hospital],'” Zhang said.
“We really did not expect this at all,” said Susan Mikus, the hospital’s director of nursing.
Mikas said not a single woman was in active labor Saturday night, until Zhang entered the ward.
“The new baby just comes in, and it’s just new and you can feel it. It’s like an electricity, an energy that comes through the unit, and it just brings such joy to everyone,” Mikus said.
“Extra special” is how Sopio Akhalaia, the nurse who assisted with delivery, described the experience.
When asked what her wishes are for her New Year’s baby, Zhang said, “Hopefully, he get healthy and growing up well. I love him so much. This is the best gift.”
The first baby in the Big Apple in 2023. Welcome to New York, Kingsley Mei.
