Oh boy, this is the week New York really sticks it to Old Europe, and I mean but GOOD. No, I'm not talking about the Republican Convention, even though this story DOES involve a dubious arrest. And, in Gothamist's comment section, at least, a pack of angry zealots.
A Swiss dad was charged with child endangerment for leaving his 2-month old son asleep in the room at the Waldorf while he went to lunch with his wife and 2-year old son. A maid found the abandoned baby, called the cops, and papa was taken into custody while maman went to retrieve the kid from the Waldorf's babycheck hospital.
The wife apologized profusely, calling the whole thing "a matter of a different culture." Like when that Danish lady got arrested for leaving her kid in the stroller outside Dallas BBQ. [News accounts are suspiciously (??) silent about what happened at lunch, though; I'm sure the Euros got their 2-year old so drunk they had to stuff him with Ricola to hide the smell.]
Meanwhile, reading the comments on Gothamist sure brings back memories. Ahh, the good old days--before I had a kid--when I knew exactly what every parent should do and didn't hesitate to tell them.
I tend to agree with 'a matter of different culture' explanation. I see nothing wrong with leaving a sleeping baby in the hotel room for half an hour to eat dinner in the hotel restaurant - I'd probably opted for taking baby monitor with me to hear if baby suddenly awakens but other than that 2mo babies tend to sleep a lot anyway so she should be really fine.