Sock & aww
Cop’s gift to homeless man
IT WAS A moment to warm even the coldest heart — and feet.
A caring NYPD transit cop played Santa to a 70-year-old homeless diabetic man, presenting him with an $18 pair of compression socks Tuesday at a Grand Central Terminal get-together.
Officer Frank Rendina carefully wrapped his gift before delivering the socks to Ron Brown, a former PGA caddy who landed in life’s rough after falling ill four years ago.
“It makes me feel great,” said Brown about Rendina’s generosity. “Someone thinks of me like a person, a human. Not everyone thinks of people like that these days.”
The special socks improve circulation in the feet of diabetics.
Rendina, 32, of the Transit Bureau’s anti-terrorism unit, typically crosses paths with Brown about once very two weeks in the course of their wanderings through the sprawling station.
The pair shared a conversation about golf when they first met inside the terminal. Brown was rooting through the trash when the cop approached.
“I found out that he is a golf caddy from Carolina,” the officer recalled. “I’m a golf player . . . . That’s kind of how our relationship started.”
Brown started playing golf while in elementary school, eventually parlaying his love of the game into a professional caddying gig.
The Charlotte, N.C., native recalled walking the course at Augusta National, and once carried Arnold Palmer’s bag. His caddying career came to an abrupt halt about four years ago, Brown recalled.
“I had a problem with my leg, it began to swell up,” he recounted. “I didn’t know I was diabetic. I ended up in the hospital.”
Brown wound up homeless after a run of awful luck last year. He was living with a pal in Harlem when the man died — on the same day Brown suffered a seizure.
He collapsed in Grand Central and was rushed to NYU Medical Center, with doctors performing brain surgery to stop internal bleeding.
Soon after Brown left the hospital, he clashed with the dead man’s other roommates and wound up on the streets. The excaddy found himself sleeping in the subways and killing time at the library.
Redina, who was aware of Brown’s health issues, stopped on a subway platform last Friday to inquire how his homeless friend was feeling.
“I asked him how his last doctor appointment was,” recalled Rendina. “He said, ‘My feet are still hurting. The doctor told me I need the diabetic socks.’ ”
Rendina promised to lend a hand to Brown’s feet.
“You know that I will see you before Christmas,” the cop promised the homeless man. “Come find me and I will make sure you have socks.”
The act of kindness would have remained anonymous if not for straphanger Joshua Lagan, 24, who saw the exchange and posted about the gift on Facebook.
Since Friday, Lagan’s post has been shared more than 1,700 times, getting the attention of NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill.
“Found on @facebook,” O’Neill wrote. “Thx for taking time to post this @joshualagan. We can all learn something. I’m so proud of #NYPD cops, and of all NYers.”
Rendina said he was surprised by all the social media attention the gesture of good will received.
“I didn’t do it because it was Christmas or any other reason,” he said. “He needed a pair of socks.”