Members of the New York city church where a baby was found in a manger this week have offered to adopt the child.

A young couple have expressed hope that they will be allowed to take in the newborn, a priest at the Holy Child Jesus Church said.

"A young couple in our parish would love to adopt this child and keep this gift in our community. It would make a great Christmas miracle," Father Christopher Ryan Heanue of the church, in Queens, said.

"The beautiful thing is that this woman found in this church – which is supposed to be a home for those in need – this home for her child."

A custodian on Monday found the crying infant, nicknamed 'Baby Jesus', with his umbilical cord still attached wrapped in towels and placed in the indoor nativity scene at the Holy Child Jesus Church in Queens, New York police said.

The baby's mother was located by police and Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said on Wednesday she would not be prosecuted because she gave up the child in accordance with the state's "Safe Haven" law.

"It appears that the mother, in this case, felt her newborn child would be found safely in the church and chose to place the baby in the manger because it was the warmest place," Brown said in a statement.

Under New York state law, a parent may abandon a newborn anonymously at certain designated safe haven locations, as long as the baby is handed over to an appropriate person.

Heanue said he and others placed a clean towel around the baby while waiting for paramedics to show up on Monday.

The healthy baby was taken to a nearby hospital in Queens for evaluation.

Additional reporting by Reuters