Bob Arihood has the troubling story:
"[W]e regrettably have to report that according to Ray at 10PM tonight the managing agent of his building--accompanied by her bodyguard-- informed him that he has until Friday to pay the 2 months rent that he owes . The agent noted that the next time she comes to the store she will have a chain and padlocks to close the store."
This can't happen. Per The Villager, his rent is $4,000 a month... Ray is 77 and has been here on Avenue A near Seventh Street since 1974.
OK. we need to find a way to make Ray's business more profitable. then he can pay his rent on time and we can keep something that has been there since the 70's going and not let anything new come in because new things are not as good as old things.
ReplyDeletemaybe we can all pitch in every month and donate money so that he can pay his rent? that seems reasonable.
or maybe he could clean up his store and offer more products or do some advertising or cut his costs or sell some equipment he doesn't need anymore or charge more for what he sells or....no, none of that would work or he would have done it a long time ago...right?
Nooo!
ReplyDeleteJeez, if I had the money, I'd give it to him. I've been buying hot dogs and coffee, but that's obviously not enough. The above commenter has some good suggestions.
Maybe he can add a banh mi or a Momofuku pork bun to his menu or something
ReplyDeleteDine-O-Mite said this over at the Eater post:
ReplyDelete"... the landlord wants to padlock the store for unpaid rent. Don't they need to go to court to do that? The guy has a lease and he is behind, hardly unusual in this day and age."
What can the landlord LEGALLY do in this situation?
The law may be different for residential tenants and commercial space, but under NY Law, for residences, you have to get a certificate of possession from the court to do anything like change the locks. The landlord may be walking into a lawsuit; to evict you generally need a court order and it often takes a couple months to get that
ReplyDeleteI love Ray and try to buy stuff at his place as much as possible but there are a lot of times when I am scared off by the creeps from the park who hang out there. You just don't know what you are going to walk into when you walk into that place, and if I have my kids with me, I don't want to take any chances. I know it isn't his fault that they congregate there. I wish there was a way to get them to hang out somewhere else. It is no fun being harassed by them.
ReplyDeleteactually, i kind of agree with anonymous' post above. i've lived in this hood for almost 20 years and i know how to handle myself, but honestly most of the time it's just not worth it to fight your way thru the crusties to get an ice cream or something. it's sad.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I have lived in the EV for years, and I am hardly Princess Di, but I just don't want to deal with the trouble if the crusties and their hangers on are hanging out at Ray's.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for Ray because these people take advantage of his good nature and seriously hurt his business.
The man is an institution and deserves better but I don't think he realizes how harmful these characters are to his business. He just wants company. Even if he did realize how harmful they are, it's not like they are going to just go away if he asks them.
I went in last night to see what was going on...kept buying things out of desperation, finally succumbing to a large coffee for $1. I told Ray he could double his prices and would still be ok. He told me a place up the street sells coffee for $2.85, but he'd rather his customer walk away happy.
ReplyDeleteI love getting treats like hot dogs and fries from him when I take my kid to Tompkins, but yeah I agree some crusties are keeping customers away. I know Rays shop is much much much cleaner than that playground (that sandbox has been shut down several times for being infested by rat poos!), but I see many parents hesitate getting food from Rays because of its clientele. They rather choose to get coffee at Ost or somewhere else...sad.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to The SHADOW's story on Ray's Candy Store:
ReplyDeletehttp://shadowpress.org/rays_candy_store.54.htm
I just interviewed him 2 hours ago (3am on Saturday morning) -- this is the straight dope!!
Chris Flash
I am all about hating on evil landlords but The Shadow story is so hyped it is ridiculous. I love Ray but the guy isn't paying his rent. Any of us would face eviction if we weren't paying rent on our apartments and businesses. He is no different. I would love to see The Shadow and everyone else who wants to support Ray do him a real favor and run the crusties back into the park and away from his business. They are killing it. There was a time when it wasn't a hangout for them. Now it is and even people like me who have lived in the hood for more than 20 years are afraid to have to deal with them and you have to deal with them to get into Ray's store all too often. People don't want to get spit on, harassed or worse to go into Ray's to get a freakin' coffee. That's the real problem here.
ReplyDeletefuck this shit you bastards treat Ray's like a squat, barricade yourselves to it like there is no tomorrow and never give up, the thsecond we let Ray's close is when we all really all just give up and say fuck it this neighborhood is really dead we lost tompkins and all the buildings in this place are we really going to lose Ray's too. if so then fuck this place. everyone should just pitch in a buck or two and this shit wouldn't happen we can save this place or it is just time to start burning everything.
ReplyDeleteDONATIONS CAN BE MADE TO SAVERAYSCANDYSTORE@GMAIL.COM THROUGH PAYPAL
ReplyDeleteWE ARE TRYING REALLY HARD TO MAKE THIS A REALITY EVERY DOLLAR COUNTS
MORE IMPORTANTLY than the store closing (Ray agreed), Ray has a rent stabilized apartment above the shop. He needs IMMEDIATE help in securing his Social Security benefits. Ray is 77 and has yet to collect them because he cannot supply acceptable proof of age to the Social Security Administration. Ray is originally from Turkey, jumped ship from their navy, and has been here ever since. Do any of you work in MEDIA, for the SSA, in immigration, etc? Even with the store gone, Ray can still have a home if he gets the money he earned. If you can help, please do. Thank you.
ReplyDelete