The 90-year-old owner of Ray’s Candy Store in Manhattan was brutally beaten outside his legendary store by a still-at large perpetrator.
The attack happened outside the 24-hour store early Tuesday morning, and left its egg-cream slinging store merchant, known to many as Ray Alvarez, with a black eye.
Photos show the aftermath of the assault, which cops said occurred when two strangers known to sell seltzer water in the area, approached the senior.
Declining the solicitation, Alvarez parted ways with the two men just before 3am.
However, soon after, one of the strangers – a baclava-clad man seen pushing a shopping cart – returned and assaulted the storeowner, police said. Alvarez, an Iranian immigrant who has served as a fixture in the East Village for decades, has since returned to work. He has owned and operated the store since 1974.
Ray Alvarez, the 90-year-old proprietor of Ray’s Candy Store, was attacked Tuesday night by an unknown assailant with a rock. He has since returned to work
Caught on camera fleeing the scene, the suspect – a baclava-clad man seen pushing a shopping cart – is being sought by cops, after it was revealed he carried out the attack with an object described as a belt with a heavy rock on the end
Caught on camera fleeing the scene, the suspect is now being sought by investigators, after it was revealed he carried out the attack with an object described as a belt with a heavy rock on the end.
A blow from the makeshift weapon reportedly left Alvarez, who had been working the overnight shift at the iconic store on Avenue A, on the ground bleeding, as the suspect fled down the avenue.
The attack also saw another Ray’s employee who had been working overnight with Alvarez hit in the chest. The pair did not require hospitalizations, and would only call cops the next day.
Alvarez, who had been working the overnight shift at the iconic shop he’s owned since 1974, was left on on the ground bleeding, with the suspect fleeing down the street
They told police from the Ninth Precinct that the staffer was hit in the chest and Alvarez across the left side of his face. He officially filed a report with the precinct Wednesday night, only after reporting in again for his shift.
Officers were seen at the shop Wednesday night listening to Alvarez’s account of the altercation – now the subject of an official investigation.
According to the East Village blog EV Grieve, Alvarez – sporting severe bruising and a noticeable shiner – told cops that he had walked outside for some air with his fellow employees before being approached by the two men.
He said he did not know the men personally, but said that they were known to sell seltzer in the area. Both employees were reportedly struck just once during the early-morning attack, which has spawned outrage amongst East Village residents.
In an update to their investigation Thursday, police said that the stranger at first threatened to kill Alvarez before returning to the scene with the seemingly self-made weapon.
The Avenue A shop – which was almost forced into foreclosure during the pandemic – serves as a call-back to an age when such soda shops on the streets of New York were common
Cops said that Alvarez, when approached by the stranger and his buddy, was asked if he wanted to buy a package that the eventual attacker was carrying.
When Alvarez asked what was inside the box, the suspect handed it to the other man, and threatened the 90-year-old store owner’s life.
Minutes later, he would return to attack Alvarez – who turned 90 last month – leaving him with severe bruising and a hash on the left side of his face.
Cops on Thursday confirmed to DailyMail.com that the senior was a victim in the 3am attack, and that a police report had been filed. They are asking anyone on with information on the suspect to call the Crime Stoppers tip-line.
Alvarez, an Iranian immigrant who turned 90 last month, has served as a fixture in the East Village for decades, slinging out egg creams and ice cream at the store since 1974
Born Asghar Ghahraman, Alvarez migrated to the US from the Middle East in the early 70s, just a few years before residents of his native country overthrew the presiding Pahlavi government during the Iranian Revolution.
Initially working as a waiter in Manhattan, Alvarez raised enough funds to buy the store he had dreamed of running in 1974, when New York was struggling though a series of financial crises that nearly culminated in the city’s bankruptcy.
Shelling out $30,000 for the space, Alvarez opened up for business later that year, and has continued to man his shop, even sleeping in the back at times, for nearly half a century.
Born Asghar Ghahraman, Alvarez migrated to the US from the Middle East in the early 70s, just a few years before the Iranian Revolution
During that span, the Avenue A shop – which was almost forced into foreclosure during the pandemic – has served customers ranging from Madonna to Kim Kardashian
During that span, the Avenue A shop – which was almost forced into foreclosure during the pandemic – has served customers ranging from Madonna to Kim Kardashian, while serving as a call-back to an earlier age when soda shops in New York were especially abundant.
The business, like many others in the Big Apple, nearly went under during the pandemic, and reportedly struggled to keep up with food and electric costs.
Alvarez, however, refused to raise his prices – which have changed little over the past 49 years – citing how he would never do that to his loyal customers.
New Yorkers would then band together to organize a fundraiser for the senior ahead of his 90th birthday last month, rather than see the senior forced into retirement.
‘We want to help Ray stay in business for as long as he wants until he decides to hang up his apron on his terms,’ a description for the fundraiser, titled Ray’s 90th B-day Celebration, explained.
It has since raised more than $52,000 – more than half of its $90,000 goal.
