A New York police officer gave a pair of boots to a homeless man on a cold winter's night, and he credited his grandfather with instilling in him the importance of generosity.

NYPD Officer Larry DePrimo was photographed on November 14 kneeling down to give the unidentified homeless man the boots.

He explains why he chose to go the distance in acquiring the boots for the homeless man.  He says, 'The true inspiration was my grandfather, and he told me when I was much younger, "If you are going to do something, do it 100 percent. And do it, or don't do it at all'" 

'And I think that stuck with me my entire life.'

Officer DePrimo said he was patrolling Times Square in the heart of Manhattan when he came across the man, who was huddled next to a storefront with nothing on his feet.

He spotted the man shivering on the cold pavement.  Officer DePrimo recalls:  'I went up to him and I said, "Buddy where's your socks, where's your shoes?"'

'He said, "It's okay officer, I never had a pair of shoes." And that to me -- it took me back a few.'

The officer went into a nearby Skecher's store and found a $100 pair of winter boots that would keep the man warm through the winter.

The assistant manager at the Skechers store in Times Square said he discounted the Alamar Terence shoes from $100 to $75-- he was 'inspired'.

An interview with Officer DePrimo airs today on "CBS This Morning".