Brighten Your Day

NY Police Officer Larry Deprimo buys homeless man boots for the winter

December 5, 2012

It's a cold winter in New York City and a barefoot homeless man happened to be sitting in front of a Sketchers shoe store when this feel-good, random act of kindness occured.

A Manhattan police officer walked up to the man, exchanged a few words, walked into the shoe store and came back out with a brand new pair of all purpose boots.

Officer Larry Deprimo handed the $100 pair of boots to the man hoping to make his winter a little easier having something to cover his exposed toes. The Sketchers store manager pitched in to the cause and offered the officer his employee discount saving Deprimo $25.

A tourist from Arizona caught the exchange on her smart phone and sent the picture to the NYPD's facebook page. The image and story has been liked by over 10,000 people since the event occured a few days ago.

According to Deprimo, during their brief conversation the homeless man told him he never owned a pair of shoes.

"He smiled from ear to ear," DePrimo said. "It was like you gave him a million dollars."

Since purchasing the boots Deprimo keeps the receipt in his vest to remind him that even on his bad days, there are people who have it worse.

The NYPD congratulated Deprimo as a local hero and awarded him a special set of cufflinks.

Thank you Larry Deprimo for an inspiring feel good story during the holiday season!

Watch the video interview with Deprimo here.