Larry DePrimo, NYPD Officer Buys Freezing Homeless Man Boots & Socks (PICTURE)

NYPD Officer Buys Freezing Homeless Man Boots & Socks (PICTURE)

Now and then a picture comes along that displays the milk of human kindness to a T, and this is one of them.

New York policeman Larry DePrimo was pictured handing a pair of boots to a barefoot man in Manhattan one wintry evening earlier this week.

The image was posted on the NYPD's Facebook page and quickly went viral, so far clocking up close to 200,000 likes there alone.

'Let's put them on and take care of you': Larry DePrimo hands the boots to the barefoot man

The shot was taken by Jennifer Foster, who noticed the shoeless man begging for change during a visit to Times Square.

In a post on the NYPD Facebook page, Foster writes: "Right when I was about to approach, one of your officers came up behind him. The officer said: 'I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let's put them on and take care of you.'

"The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put the socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching."

'I didn't think anything of it': DePrimo has been very modest about his act of kindness

He came across the man on Seventh Avenue near 44th Street and offered to buy him socks and shoes.

"I never had a pair of shoes," the man replied.

The 25-year-old, who has been on the force for three years, walked to a nearby shoe shop and spent $75 (£46) on boots and socks.

Returning to the man, he knelt down and helped him put the footwear on. DePrimo recalled: "He smiled from ear to ear. It was like you gave him a million dollars."

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