Anyone in New York right now knows that today was not a good day to be outside without appropriate outerwear (or, some would argue, outside at all.) Sadly, a homeless man named Robert William was still on the sidewalk near 42nd Street and the FDR this morning, “coatless, and wearing only a white thermal undershirt.” According to the New York Post, he had removed his oxford shirt, which he was trying to tear apart so he could wrap it around his feet, when he was approached by an NYPD officer. The cop, who declined to identify himself but whose nameplate read “Ramos,” took off the sweatshirt he was wearing under his uniform and handed it to William.
“He gave it to me, he said, ‘Don’t worry about it,” William said. “The partner said something to Ramos, and I heard Ramos answer him, ‘No, it’s Ok — I’ve got several of them,” the Post photographer who happened to capture the moment told the paper, So, Ramos is not exactly Lawrence DePrimo, the patrolman who famously spent $100 of his own money on a pair of boots for a shoeless homeless man last November, but what he did was still very kind. After a year of mostly negative attention, it would be nice if the NYPD could close out 2013 with this story.
