A 1-year-old girl is recovering after being thrown down a garbage chute on Staten Island on Monday, police said.

Investigators say the child's father called 911 at around 3:15 p.m. and officers quickly responded to 195 Steuben St. near Weser Avenue in the Park Hill section of the borough.

Police found the little girl with abrasions to the torso. She was rushed to Richmond University Hospital in stable condition and is expected to recover.

Police said a 39-year-old man was taken into custody. Police sources say he is the 1-year-old's uncle. He has not been charged.

"I'm going to pray that God wraps his arms around this family"

An NYPD officer was seen on the third floor standing in front of the garbage chute and just down the hall was the family's apartment with the door open.

Neighbor Milton Franklin told CBS News New York the family has lived in the building for a while. He said he was coming home from work on Monday afternoon when he saw several emergency crews outside the building and a distraught woman carrying a child to an ambulance.

"Saddened, hurt. Like I said, not something I would expect in this neighborhood, see or hear typically, especially in this building. I've been here 20 years, so it's saddening," Franklin said. "I'm going to pray that God wraps his arms around this family and I get through this situation."

"It makes me feel depressed. It makes me feel bad about how can [you] do a thing like that," neighbor Froylan Zapata added.

• Staten Island