(NEWSER) – The NYPD officer who became an Internet hero after buying boots for a homeless man says he was spurred to action when he saw people laughing at the man on the 35-degree night. "I went up to him and said, 'Where are your shoes?' And he said, 'It’s OK. I’ve never had a pair of shoes, but God bless you,'" says Lawrence DePrimo (or Larry, as the New York Post calls him). "And that had really taken me aback, because this gentleman had enough heart to say God bless me, and he didn’t even have a pair of socks! What sticks out in my mind is that he was just such a kind gentleman that I really had to help him."
