Ray’s Candy store owner, 90-year-old Ray Alvarez, still works 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
Like many of New York City’s small businesses, Ray’s Candy Store in the East Village took a financial hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation and soaring utility costs added to the financial peril.
In 2022, a friend of 90-year-old owner Ray Alvarez set up an online fundraiser to help keep the business afloat. In one week, supporters of the iconic sweets shop raised over $45,000, and donations are still rolling in. So far, the GoFundMe page has raised $67,524.
Thanks to the generous donations, Alvarez can keep Ray’s open, and as a token of appreciation to his donors and loyal customer base, the East Village fixture invited New Yorkers to celebrate his path to financial freedom with free deep-fried Oreos and a photo-op on Sunday, Dec. 3.
Ray’s Candy Store, located at 113 Avenue A, is an East Village institution and has been serving Belgian fries, deep-fried Oreos and Twinkies, egg creams and more since 1974. Nearly 50 years later, Alvarez still serves coffee at only a buck-twenty-five — he refuses to raise the price.
Entering the store, customers step into a time capsule, providing a glimpse at what New York used to be before corporate chains took over. If the store’s walls could talk, they would tell a story of celebrities like Madonna and the late Anthony Bourdain, the downtrodden, corporate types, cops, and firefighters — all ordering from the worn blue counter.
Alvarez, who still works 20 hours a day, seven days a week, is the heart and soul of the store and the poster child of the American Dream.
Born in Iran as Asghar Ghahraman, Alvarez literally jumped ship from the Iranian Navy in 1963 to find freedom and a better life in the United States. After working a number of jobs, Alvarez had saved up enough money to buy his candy store across from Tompkins Square Park.
Alvarez said the GoFundMe campaign…
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