Metro

Alarming wake-up: 4 a.m. Amber Alert on phones comes as a shock to NYers unaware of the feature

Mario Danner

Mario Danner

This smartphone alert was a surprise to those unaware of the new feature. The baby, Mario Danner, was found OK with his troubled mom, Marina Lopez (above at court  yesterday).

This smartphone alert was a surprise to those unaware of the new feature. The baby, Mario Danner, was found OK with his troubled mom, Marina Lopez (above at court yesterday).

(Matthew McDermott)

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Millions of sleeping New Yorkers got a jolt to the senses before dawn yesterday when their cellphones rang with an Amber Alert about a baby boy who had been snatched from a child-welfare center in Harlem.

The rude awakening, which contained information about the suspect’s getaway car, was sent out shortly before 4 a.m., although some people reported getting it later in the day.

State Police said the notification was the result of New York having joined the National Wireless Emergency Alert System on Dec. 31.

The system allows agencies to automatically send messages to newer-model smartphones in specified areas to warn people about emergencies there. But many people unaware of the program were jarred by the wake-up call, with some taking to Twitter to vent their anger.

“That amber alert at 4am scared the hell out of me. I thought my house was on fire,” tweeted @eduardomargarin.

Investigator Dan Craven, of the State Police Special Victims Unit, which issues Amber Alerts, said his office got “a few complaints,” but called it “a huge day” for getting information out there.

Although his unit issues the alerts, Craven said the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was responsible for the notification.

Robert Hoever, director of special programs for the center, said: “The purpose of an Amber Alert is to rapidly notify the public when an abducted child is facing grave danger. The more eyes and ears law enforcement has searching for that abducted child, the greater the child’s chances are for a safe recovery.”

“Amber coordinators are placed in a delicate balancing act. They need to weigh the safety and welfare concerns of the child versus the overuse of the system,” Hoever added.

The subject of the alert, 7-month-old Mario Danner, disappeared at about 3 p.m. Tuesday during a supervised visit with his mom, Marina Lopez, 25, of Queens, who had lost custody of him.

The NYPD said Lopez — who has an extensive rap sheet and a history of mental problems — slipped out of a city facility at West 125th Street and Seventh Avenue with the baby.

She and the boy were located yesterday in the Rockaways.

Lopez exclaimed, “Oh, my God,” as she left the 28th Precinct station house in Harlem last night. She was charged with a felony count of custodial interference.

A police source defended the decision to send out the alert.

“What if that was your child?” the source said.

bruce.golding@nypost.com