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Ray's Candy Store Still Hanging by a Thread
By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 28, 2009
Modified Dec 28, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Dec 28, 2009
Modified Dec 28, 2009
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The year began and ended with bad news for Ray's Candy Store [MySpace], the hole-in-the-wall burger, shake, etc. joint on Avenue A across the street from Tompkins Square Park. Ray's has been a neighborhood institution for decades, but owner Ray Alvarez, 76, has fallen deep in debt and has health problems compounded by the fact that he's a Turkish immigrant without a birth certificate and ineligible for Social Security. Now he's late on his rent for the first time since opening in '74, and tells the Villager, "They might throw me out. If I work alone — no girls, no help — I will make $100 a day and pay my rent. ... And if lose my store, I lose my apartment, too. This is my only income, and it’s too cold to collect cans." [Via EV Grieve]
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east village
nyc
ray's candy store
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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