By Police1 Staff
NEW YORK — Cellphone video captured several officers giving a homeless woman a birthday she won’t forget.
WFLA reported that officers with the NYPD’s ferry security unit surprised a homeless woman by giving her food and singing “Happy Birthday” to her. The officers’ act of kindness was captured on video and posted to social media.
According to the New York Post, 47-year-old Officer Leron Lee came up with the idea. Lee said the woman, named Lisa, is “a regular at the ferry terminal” and that he’s known her for the seven years he’s worked for the unit.
Lee said he learned that Lisa’s birthday is June 21, and when that day came, he asked her what she wanted. She requested “a cheeseburger, some French fries and a Dr. Pepper.”
The officer obliged and, along with the food, got his colleagues to sing “Happy Birthday” to her. Lee said Lisa she was grateful for the generous gesture.
Lee insists that he doesn’t deserve any credit and that it’s common for officers in his unit to buy a cup of coffee for the “resident” homeless.
“Like I said, Lisa and I have a pretty good rapport,” he explained. “So I was just trying to brighten up her birthday a little bit, for someone who maybe doesn’t have family.”