Photo of NYPD Officer Giving Boots to Homeless Man Becomes Online Sensation
A tourist's snapshot of an NYPD officer giving new boots to a barefoot homeless man in Times Square has become an online sensation.
Jennifer Foster, a tourist from Florence, Ariz., took a cellphone picture of Officer Larry DePrimo giving the man the all-weather boots and socks on a frigid night in Times Square on Nov. 14.
The image was posted on the NYPD's Facebook page and became an instant hit. More than 325,000 users "liked" his generosity as of Thursday morning.
DePrimo, 25, told The New York Times that it was freezing that night and he could see blisters on the man's feet.
"I had two pairs of socks and I was still cold," he told the Times.
As they began talking, the officer learned the man's shoe size was 12. He went into a nearby Skechers shoe store and bought a pair of $100 boots for a little over $75, after the store gave a discount.
The tourist who snapped the photo told the Times that she emailed the NYPD about it later, and that someone responded and asked for the photo so it could be posted.
DePrimo, who never learned the homeless man's name, said he keeps the receipt for the boots in his vest to remind him "that sometimes people have it worse."
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
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