A Good NYPD Story

[garbon]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/generosity-immortalized-photo-article-1.1210565

NYPD Officer Larry DePrimo immortalized in tourist's photo after giving barefoot homeless man a pair of boots

A simple act of kindness turned a city cop into an Internet sensation, but he insists he was just doing his job.
Larry DePrimo was hailed as an officer and a gentleman after an Arizona tourist immortalized him in a photo giving a barefoot homeless man a pair of boots.

The picture snapped in Times Square on Nov. 14 was posted Tuesday on the NYPD's Facebook page. By Thursday, the image had been shared more than 133,000 times and "Liked" by more than 409,000 people.

"When you're a police officer, you're just out there to help people," said DePrimo, 25. "And in situations like this, you just do what you have to do."

The young cop, who has been on the job for two years, said he didn't even know someone had taken the picture.

"It's surreal," he said. "I didn't really expect anything of it."

DePrimo, who is normally assigned to the Sixth Precinct in Greenwich Village, said he was manning a post at W. 44th St. and Broadway when he heard someone chuckle at the homeless man.
"I looked over and someone was laughing at this elderly gentleman who had no socks (and) no shoes," he said. "You could see the blisters from a distance."

DePrimo — who lives with his parents in Holbrook, L.I. — said he felt the bitter cold seeping through two layers of winter socks and his combat boots.

"It was a very, very cold night," he said. "I could only imagine how cold that pavement was."

So, he asked the man if he had anything to cover his feet.

"It's okay, Sir, I've never had a pair of shoes," the man replied. "But God bless you."

As the mystery man strolled away down Seventh Ave., DePrimo caught up to him and asked him his shoe size before walking into a Skechers on W. 42nd St.

"I'd like to buy a pair of boots, something that will last a while," DePrimo told a worker. "I don't care what the price is."

A few minutes later, the kindhearted cop bought a $100 pair of all-weather boots, size 12. A store manager applied his employee discount to lower the price.

"It was really inspiring to see someone take five minutes out of their work day to do something small that can become something big," said the manager, Jose Cano, 28.
DePrimo carried the boots and a pair of thermal socks to the man, who was still standing outside.
"He just smiled from ear to ear," DePrimo recalled. "It was absolutely amazing."

That's when Jennifer Foster, who was visiting from Florence, Ariz., with her husband, captured the moment with a cell phone camera — a snapshot that went viral two weeks later.

"The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching," Foster wrote with her Facebook post.

Freddie Torres of Spanish Harlem said he has seen the recipient of DePrimo's generosity.

"I give him a couple of bucks because he's going through the garbage," said the 61-year-old photographer. "He's in rags, but he doesn't beg. He's a very quiet person."

DePrimo called the experience "humbling" and said he keeps the receipt for the boots tucked in his bullet-resistant vest.

"I think it's an important reminder," he said. "You see something like this and you remember that people have it worse."

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly gave him another memento: A set of NYPD commissioner cuff links.
DePrimo's extraordinary gesture left John Harry, who is homeless, in awe.

"That's mighty nice of that cop," said Harry, 65. "Last time someone gave me new shoes, I think I was 10 years old."

[Syt]

Probably another, stronger hobo has already beaten him up for the boots and taken them from him.

[garbon]

Doubtful. Consider how abuzz the New York media has been about this act - they'd have quickly covered the negative as well.

[garbon]

And then on the flipside:

NYPD Arrests Man Who Allegedly Put Up Posters Making Fun Of NYPD

In the months since they appeared we had plumb forgotten about those funny fake NYPD drone ads that popped up around town to commemorate the anniversary of Occupy Wall Street. But the NYPD sure didn't. As the Daily News reports, police have arrested the alleged artist behind the "always watching" ads. And it wasn't just because of any fingerprints left behind but also possibly because of an interview that poster poster put online (along with other evidence).

"That first night I couldn't sleep at all," the 29-year-old artist Essam Attia (who tagged many of the fake posters "ESSAM" as you can see above) told Animal in September. "My heart was pumping and I kept waking up in a cold sweat. Bloomberg, Kelly and his cronies are not going to take this lightly if I get caught." And boy was he not wrong. Attia was charged with "56 counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, grand larceny possession of stolen property and weapons possession after allegedly having an unloaded .22-caliber revolver under his bed at his Manhattan apartment when he was arrested early Wednesday."

After being charged, Attia posted bail and is due back in court on December 3rd. Meanwhile, Animal's Bucky Turco assures us his site in no way helped the NYPD apprehend the criminal mastermind. "What a great use of NYPD resources," he told us in an email dripping in sarcasm. "The city is much safer now that this dangerous thought-provoking artist has been apprehended."

[CountDeMoney]

And then on the flipside:

Snot-nosed, self-important artists aren't really defensible, g.

[Syt]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/03/nyregion/barefoot-homeless-man-says-hes-grateful-for-boots.html?smid=fb-nytimes

Homeless Man Is Grateful for Officer's Gift of Boots. But He Again Is Barefoot.

After Officer Lawrence DePrimo knelt beside a barefoot man on a bitterly cold November night in Times Square, giving him a pair of boots, a photo of his random act of good will quickly took on a life of its own — becoming a symbol for a million acts of kindness that go unnoticed every day and a reminder that even in this tough, often anonymous city, people can still look out for one another.

Officer DePrimo was celebrated on front pages and morning talk shows, the Police Department came away with a burnished image and millions got a smile from a nice story.

But what of the shoeless man?

For days, his bare feet — blistered and battered — were well known. Yet precise details about him proved elusive.

His name is Jeffrey Hillman, and on Sunday night, he was once again wondering the streets — this time on the Upper West Side — with no shoes.

The $100 pair of boots that Officer DePrimo had bought for him at a Sketchers store on Nov. 14 were nowhere to be seen.

"Those shoes are hidden. They are worth a lot of money," Mr. Hillman said in an interview on Broadway in the 70s. "I could lose my life."

Mr. Hillman, 54, was by turns aggrieved, grateful and taken aback by all the attention that had come his way — even as he struggled to figure out what to do about it.

"I was put on YouTube, I was put on everything without permission. What do I get?" he said. "This went around the world, and I want a piece of the pie."

He did not recall the photo being taken but remembered well the gift from Officer DePrimo. "I appreciate what the officer did, don't get me wrong," he said. "I wish there were more people like him in the world."

At another point he said: "I want to thank everyone that got onto this thing. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. It meant a lot to me. And to the officer, first and foremost."

Mr. Hillman said he came to New York about a decade ago and had been on the streets most of that time. He moves about Manhattan, he said, not frequenting any particular neighborhood. On Sunday, he was making his way from the Upper West Side to Times Square.

If it rained, he added, he might seek refuge on a train.

Mr. Hillman said he was from South Plainfield, N.J. He said he joined the Army in 1978 and served as a "food service specialist" in the United States and Germany.

He produced a worn veteran's identification card that confirmed his service.

Mr. Hillman said that he was honorably discharged after five years and that before he became homeless he worked in kitchens in New Jersey.

He has two children — Nikita, 22, and Jeffrey, 24 — but has had little contact with them since a visit three years ago, Mr. Hillman said.

He was reluctant to talk about how he ended up on the streets, staring blankly ahead when asked how his life went off course.

After a long pause, he shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Since Mr. Hillman's bare feet became famous, other people reported seeing him without shoes — one even after Officer DePrimo's gift — and one woman said she had bought him a pair of shoes a year ago. Whatever the case, Mr. Hillman seemed accustomed to walking the pavement shoeless.

He was panhandling on Sunday night and carried a cup with a few coins inside.

The story seemed to dominate the city's attention late last week. Speaking of Officer DePrimo on his radio program last week, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, "That's what they're trained to do — help people."

Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly expressed his appreciation by giving Officer DePrimo a pair of department cuff links during a private meeting on Thursday.

Officer DePrimo, 25, who lives with his parents in Suffolk County, rocketed to national attention after the Police Department posted the photo of him and Mr. Hillman, taken by an Arizona tourist, on its Facebook page.

On Sunday, Mr. Hillman was spotted by Jamie Seerman and her sister Samantha near 79th Street and Broadway as they were shopping for a Christmas tree.

As he was being interviewed, several people noticed him,

"What happened to the boots?" one man asked.

[CountDeMoney]

"Those shoes are hidden. They are worth a lot of money," Mr. Hillman said in an interview on Broadway in the 70s. "I could lose my life."

He's got a point.  First thing I thought of, he'll lose those shoes in a day or two, to predatory homeless types.  That's why the homeless can't have nice things.

[HVC]

“Those shoes are hidden. They are worth a lot of money,” Mr. Hillman said in an interview on Broadway in the 70s. “I could lose my life.”

That's why the homeless can't have nice things.

That and the voices in their head

[garbon]

Well now their is more being discovered here.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/barefoot-homeless-man-not-actually-homeless-175054937.html

Barefoot homeless man not actually homeless

The homeless man who was given a pair of boots by a kindhearted New York City police officer apparently isn't homeless. According to New York Daily News, Jeffrey Hillman, 54, has an apartment in the Bronx that is paid for via a combination of rent vouchers, Social Security, and military veteran benefits.

Hillman and Officer Lawrence DePrimo became Internet sensations after a visiting tourist posted a photo of DePrimo giving Hillman a pair of boots from a nearby Sketchers store. The photo went viral. Yesterday, we ran a story about how Hillman was spotted around New York City, again barefoot.

Those shoes are hidden," Hillman told the New York Times. "They are worth a lot of money—I could lose my life."

The Daily News reports that various city organizations have attempted to help Hillman. Barbara Brancaccio, a spokesperson for the city's Homeless Service said, "He {Hillman} has a history of turning down services."

The man's brother Kirk Hillman told the Daily News that he hasn't heard from Jeffrey since January. "We love our brother very much," Kirk Hillman said. "Our door is always open to him, but this is a lifestyle he's chosen."

Jeffrey Hillman recently told The New York Times that he is grateful for the boots from Officer DePrimo. "I want to thank everyone that got onto this thing. I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. It meant a lot to me. And to the officer, first and foremost."

[DGuller]

I feel bad for the cop.  Not only does he make himself an outcast among fellow NYPD cops for not being an asshole, but now the "homeless" guy is making him look like a naive fool.

[CountDeMoney]

In my experience, a few homeless and panhandlers do have a place to go, and yet rarely stay there, because they are usually mentally fucking ill.

Arrested this one guy a few times that was always picked up or bailed out by his father, who told me his home was always open for his kid, but his kid was schizo and always stopped taking his meds.  There's only so much you can do for somebody like that.  Can't keep them off the street if that's where they want to live.