"I Just Had to Help Him" — The NYPD Officer Who Knelt on a Freezing Sidewalk to Give a Barefoot Stranger Boots: The Story of Larry DePrimo

A Barefoot Man on a Freezing Night

On the evening of November 14, 2012, temperatures in Manhattan were plunging toward freezing. Near the corner of 42nd Street and 7th Avenue, just steps from the blazing lights of Times Square, a man sat on the cold concrete sidewalk. He had no shoes. He had no socks. His feet were swollen and covered in blisters, exposed to the biting November air.

Walking that beat was Officer Larry DePrimo, a 25-year-old patrolman with the New York City Police Department. Assigned to the South Manhattan district, DePrimo had been temporarily deployed to the Times Square area for a counterterrorism detail that night. He was not looking for anything extraordinary. He was just doing his job.

Then he saw the man's feet.

Seventy-Five Dollars and a Pair of Boots

DePrimo stopped. He approached the man and asked if he was all right. The answer was obvious. Without hesitation, DePrimo walked into a nearby Skechers shoe store on 42nd Street. He pulled out his own wallet and spent $75 — no small amount for a young officer — on the warmest, most insulated, waterproof winter boots the store carried, along with a pair of thermal socks. A store employee, moved by the officer's explanation, applied her employee discount to bring the price down.

DePrimo returned to the corner. And then he did something that would be seared into the world's memory: he knelt down on the cold sidewalk and personally slipped the socks and boots onto the stranger's battered feet.

The man looked up, stunned. DePrimo smiled, exchanged a few quiet words, and walked on to continue his patrol.

A Tourist, a Photograph, and a Viral Moment

The entire scene had been witnessed by Jennifer Foster, a visitor from Arizona who worked as a communications director for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. Instinctively, she pulled out her phone and took a photograph. The image captured DePrimo on one knee, gently fitting the boots onto the homeless man's feet, his police badge and gun belt visible under the streetlights.

Foster couldn't forget what she had seen. After returning home, she emailed the photo to the NYPD's official Facebook page, writing:

"That officer showed me that New York is a great city because of the people who serve it. I want the world to know that behind that badge beats a very warm heart."

On November 27, 2012, the NYPD posted the photograph on Facebook. The response was immediate and overwhelming. Within 24 hours, the photo had been shared more than 1.6 million times. Within days, every major news outlet in the world — CNN, ABC, NBC, the BBC, and countless international media organizations — had picked up the story. The image became one of the most shared photographs of 2012.

Who Was Larry DePrimo?

DePrimo was a modest young man from Holbrook, Long Island. He had joined the NYPD not long before and was still early in his career. Seventy-five dollars was a meaningful sum from his paycheck.

When the media frenzy descended upon him, DePrimo was visibly uncomfortable with the attention. In interviews, he repeated the same humble refrain:

"I didn't do anything special. I just saw a man who was cold and barefoot, and I wanted to help. Anyone would have done the same thing."

He insisted he was no hero. But his insistence only deepened the public's admiration.

The Complicated Aftermath

The story did not end as a simple fairy tale. The barefoot man was identified as Jeffrey Hillman, a veteran who, it turned out, had an apartment provided through government assistance and had previously received shoes from various charitable organizations. Days after the viral photo, Hillman was spotted barefoot on the streets again. He told reporters he had hidden the boots because they were "too valuable" and he feared they would be stolen.

Some people expressed disappointment. Cynics questioned whether the act of kindness had been "wasted."

But the deeper truth remained untouched. The power of the moment was never about the outcome for one man; it was about the impulse of another. DePrimo did not conduct a background check before kneeling on that sidewalk. He did not ask whether Hillman "deserved" help. He saw suffering, and he acted — immediately, generously, and without expectation of recognition.

That is what moved millions of people, and that is what continues to resonate.

The Ripple Effect

After the photo went viral, the NYPD received thousands of letters and emails from around the world thanking the department and expressing renewed faith in law enforcement. DePrimo was honored by the city and eventually promoted to detective, continuing to serve the people of New York.

More importantly, the photograph sparked a global conversation about everyday kindness. Inspired by DePrimo's example, people shared their own stories of small, anonymous acts of generosity. Charitable donations to homeless organizations in New York spiked in the weeks following the story.

DePrimo himself never sought to capitalize on his fame. He continued to patrol the same streets, do the same work, and live by the same simple principle he articulated that night:

"When someone is cold and barefoot, you help them. That's just what people should do for each other."

Why This Story Still Matters

In a world saturated with images of conflict, division, and outrage, the photograph of Larry DePrimo kneeling on a frozen sidewalk endures because it captures something elemental about human goodness. It reminds us that kindness does not require a qualification process. It does not demand that the recipient be "worthy." It asks only that the giver be willing.

On that freezing November night in Times Square, the brightest light was not the neon billboard towering overhead. It was the quiet glow of a young police officer's compassion — offered freely, without fanfare, on the cold ground of a great city.

Sometimes, a single act of ordinary decency is the most extraordinary thing in the world.