Cop plays the hero on B’way
Helps tourists see ‘Hamilton’
There’s a million things Geraldine McKenna and her daughter hadn’t done. Seeing the Broadway smash “Hamilton” was one of them.
Police Officer Ricardo DiCandia just wanted to make sure they had their shot.
So he forked over an Andrew Jackson so they could see Hamilton — and is being hailed as a bighearted hero.
“There was a sense of urgency . . . like they really needed it,” DiCandia said about the $20 he handed McKenna when she stormed up to him across the street from the Richard Rodgers Theatre on W. 46th St. back in March. “I’m just glad I was able to help out. I try and make the experience for the tourists positive.”
McKenna and her daughter were visiting the city from Ireland. One of their goals was to see the Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned blockbuster show.
They waited four days to see if they won discounted tickets in a lottery, but when they were named winners, their hearts sank — they were $20 short.
When they told their tale of woe to DiCandia, he didn’t waste any time.
“As soon as I gave the money, the daughter started crying,” he remembered. “I was just doing my job. (It’s) just another day in the life for me.”
DiCandia didn’t get his $20 back, chalking it up to a charitable donation for two tourists in need.
What he didn’t know was that McKenna wrote Mayor de Blasio to gush about DiCandia’s grand gesture.
“We were totally overjoyed when he opened his wallet and just handed us $20,” McKenna wrote to the mayor, according to the NYPD. “It was without a doubt the best night and would not have been possible without Officer DiCandia’s generosity and kindness.”
While gratified by the recognition of his random act of kindness, the 10year NYPD veteran doesn’t think he did anything out of the ordinary.
“I feel like any other cop would do this,” he said.