Metro

Cop who bought homeless man boots promoted

The kind hearted cop who bought a pair of boots for a barefoot homeless man on a frigid night last year was promoted Tuesday to Detective.

Det. Larry DePrimo poses after the promotions ceremony at Police Headquarters.New York Post/Chad Rachman

Larry DePrimo, 26, made headlines in November for stopping to help Jeffrey Hillman, 54, in Times Square — buying him a pair of all-weather boots and thermal socks.

He was promoted to detective in an afternoon ceremony at 1 Police Plaza.

“It’s a dream come true, this shield is one of the most coveted shields I think in the country, maybe even the world.” DePrimo said. “I look down and it’s still unreal to me.”

DePrimo, who hasn’t seen Hillman since his act of kindness, would still like to meet up with him.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to meet him and see how’s he doing,” DePrimo said. “I’d shake his hand and ask him if he still wants to grab that coffee or some dinner.”

DePrimo was transferred from patrol in the 6th Precinct to the Queens Warrant Squad where the nick name “Boots” still sticks.

“The name tag in my office says, Larry Boots DePrimo, Queens Warrant Squad,” DePrimo said with a big smile.

Though he gained a lot of recognition for his good deed, his father, also Larry DePrimo, was quick to point out that his son’s charity wasn’t the only reason he was boosted up to detective.

“It’s important to remember Larry is not becoming detective today because he done something nice a year ago , his service record also speaks for itself too,” the senior DePrimo said.

His proud father also said that despite his son’s fame, he was just being a good person.

“He was arguably the most famous person in the world for 2 days,” the elder DePrimo said. “It still came down to Larry done something really nice for another person, that was the bottom line.”

DePrimo believes that even though he’s no longer in the public eye, he still has impacted people in a positive way.

“You know the attention has died down…I don’t think the effects it had on people has ever stopped,” DePrimo said. “I still will get ‘what you did inspired me to do a great thing for another person,’ that’s fantastic.“

Hillman, on the other hand, has been spotted as recently as March of this year still shoeless and having a sign on his back that reads “HOMELESS” while panhandling for money in the streets of Manhattan, even though he lives in a Bronx apartment.