The New York City homeless man – whose gift of boots from an NYPD police officer became an online sensation last week  – is back on the streets with no shoes.

The New York Times found him Sunday night wandering barefoot in Manhattan. The paper identified him as Jeffrey Hillman, formerly of South Plainfield, N.J.

Asked about the $100 all-weather boots Officer Larry DePrimo gave him on Nov. 14, Hillman says he’s hidden them because “they are worth a lot of money.”

He says he’s grateful for the gift, but he wants “a piece of the pie” because the photo was posted online “without permission.”

“I was put on YouTube, I was put on everything without permission,” he added. “What do I get?”

When you give people free stuff, they usually don't value it as much as when they earn it themselves. Via Homeless Man Behind Viral NYPD Photo Now Shoeless Again, Demanding ‘Piece of the Pie’ | TheBlaze.com.

UPDATE: We also need to realize that the NYPD guy did not actually help the homeless man here. He doesn't appear to be better off. But the NYPD guy feels better about himself for having "done something," and *you* feel like a good person for approving of it. That's what a lot of charity ends up being: a way to make you feel better about yourself, not a way to do actual good in the world. If you want to feel better about yourself, fine, but don't fool yourself into thinking you're doing real good -- *unless* you follow up with individual persons you helped, afterwards, and see how they're doing. Real life-changing charity work is difficult to do.