At Ray's, a Coke and a smile — big smiles

As mentioned, Ray has turned 78, and some friends had made some birthday-related festivities.

Which is why Gal Friday was on the scene last night with some cheesecake and candles and stuff ... Several readers were on hand, and passed along photos for our family-friendly site.

And from jdx ...

Look for more shots later at Nadie Se Conoce and Slum Goddess.

A birthday celebration tonight at Ray's

As Bob Arihood reports, there will be some entertainment tonight at Ray's ... as he celebrates his 78th birthday... festivities start around 10:30 or so... Perhaps you can stop buy earlier to buy a drink or sandwich or fries... we know that Ray could use the business... tough times again here...

[Photo of "Creme Burlee" via Neither More Nor Less ... where you can find more shots from last year]

Dough Ray Me...

Seeing these photos of Ray's by EV Grieve correspondent Bobby Williams reminds me that I need to swing by to try out one of the new menu offerings... Bob Arihood has documented a few of these items, such as the crepes... and the fried dough... I'll go for the $5 turkey sandwich first...

An early birthday present for Ray

On Saturday, Ray got a head start on his birthday... Upon hearing he'll be turning 78, Barbara A Solony, who has been going to Ray's since Day 1, brought him cake with candles... It was a festive moment...

[Photo by Barbara A Solony]

Ray turns 78 this Jan. 25 ... here are some photos by Bob Arihood from Ray's 76th birthday celebration... featuring dancer Mini Malicious.

Grade inflation at Ray's?

Thanks to an EV Grieve reader for this photo outside Ray's... a little marker mischief provides a boost to the Health Department's A, B or C ratings...

Avenue A, 8:44 a.m., Aug. 28

At Ray's: 'A 77-year-old runs the night shift' (And Jesus is f'ing metal — woo!)

On Wednesday, via Bob Arihood, we told that Ray would be featured on CNNmoney.com...



Well, the clip is now online (and there's no embed — WTF CNN?)

(Oops! Stupid Grieve. Thanks Matt!)



You can watch it here. The segment is titled, "A 77-year-old runs the night shift."

And I'm sure some CNN viewers will love this customer's hoodie!



Ha! Awesome! FU CNN censors!

Ray to appear on CNNmoney.com

Thanks to Bob Arihood for the photo and tip here...

Ray spoke to a CNNmoney.com reporter last night offering his expert advice on money matters and good business practices in today's financially troubled New York City economy. The reporter noted that the interview will appear on the CNNmoney.com site sometime between tonight and Friday.

Crazy ideas of the week: Turn Ray's into a tiki bar

The East Villager has a Page 1 feature this week on Barry Kushelowitz’s tiki-rich apartment on Seventh Street...


[Photo by J.B. Nicholas]

Here's an excerpt that's rather funny and, probably, a little alarming...:

Does he have any interest in opening up his own tiki-themed establishment? Yes, he says, but real estate in New York is too expensive and the city has become too "sterilized." One idea he has is to use his collection to turn Ray’s Candy Store, on E. Seventh St. and Avenue A, into a tiki bar, with Ray Alvarez, the store's owner, as emcee.

"Ray could come down at night and tell stories," Kushelowitz said. "He's got a million stories."

Eat Pray Love Ray's

It kind of rhymes, Eat Pray Love Ray's...



At the World Famous Pee Phone©.

It's nice to see Ray's again

Hey now, workers removed the sidewalk shed on the Avenue A side too... Melanie has a shot of the workers in action here...


Previously on EV Grieve:
Sidewalk shed partially down on Seventh and A

Scaffolding to cover Ray's, Yuca Bar

Avenue A icy/icee wars

A few weeks back, The Scoopinator reported that the new NYC Icy on the other side of Avenue A has taken half of Ray's business (according to Ray) ... so... Slum Goddess yesterday noted that Ray is now selling -- icees...




Thanks to Slum Goddess for letting me borrow the photos! And be sure to read the rest of her post, which features a headline that I hope someone in the mainstream media borrows: Just read my fucking shit.

Anyway, will NYC Icy now start serving hot dogs or egg creams?

Sidewalk shed partially down on Seventh and A

Since March 10, workers have been repairing the facade on the building at Seventh Street and Avenue A... which meant a sidewalk shed for Yuca Bar and Ray's... Yesterday, workers removed the sidewalk shed on the Seventh Street side...





Still more time for shenanigans on A, though, near Ray's and the World Famous Pee Phone©.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Scaffolding to cover Ray's, Yuca Bar

Ray's now has a three-year lease

A friendly neighborhood tipster passed along some good news from Ray's Candy Store: Ray has signed a new three-year-lease. (Previously, he had been on a month-to-month arrangement.) According to the tipster, the rent will go up each year ... "and of course a deed in hand does not a monthly payment make, but it ought to give the 'hood some hope... right?"

Yes!

[Photo of Ray via Slum Goddess]

What's Great About America: Ray's

As we mentioned, the Ray's delivery team was featured on the John Stossel-hosted Fox program "What's Great About America" this past weekend...and here is the segment. The Ray's piece starts at the 4:30 point or so...in case you want to skip by the opening stuff with Bono and Angelina....



Thanks to Matt at Neighborhoodr for this link. He has more Ray's-related items here, such as a deal on Save Ray's gear (only through today, though).

By the way, as Scoopy noted, the Ray's delivery team is on hiatus during the summer...

No more Belgian fries at Ray's (for now)

Scoopy's column in this week's issue of The Villager has several updates on Ray's...Including:

— Ray is receiving his Social Security payments, going back as far as 2.5 years.

— Ray is no longer selling Belgian fries. Reports Scoopy: "In a new twist, his property manager, Barbara Chupa, has proposed a deal: Stop selling fries and get a three-year lease; his current rent, $3,700, would increase $200 each year. So, for the moment, Ray has covered his array of Belgian fries signs with sheets of white paper — and yet Chupa still hasn’t provided a lease."

— "Ray still wants to install an Ansul system hood over his deep fryer, which he hopes would satisfy Chupa, allowing him to fire up his golden fries once more — but he won’t spend the $10,000 to do it until he gets her OK."

— He says the new NYC Icy on the other side of Avenue A "has taken half his business."

— Ray may close up the shop for several weeks during a traditionally slow period to have his hernia operation.

[Image by Andrew King Dong via the Save Ray's Facebook page]

Ray's delivery team to be featured on Fox tonight

[Photo via Bob Arihood]

Bob Arihood sent us a note saying that the Ray's delivery team will be featured tonight on the Fox News channel at 9 (Fox News is Channel 44 on Time Warner.) The delivery team will be roughly 1/3 of the program that will be hosted by John Stossel. The program will air again tomorrow night at 9.

Brisk sales reported for the Save Ray's clothing line, though no one has bought a thong yet

Matt Rosen at Neighborhoodr has an update on the Save Ray's clothing and accessorites line:

Sales of T-Shirts at Ray’s store have been brisk, and the online shop has seen orders from such exotic places as “France,” “Germany,” and “California.”

The most popular items thus far have been the Organic Women’s Fitted T-Shirt, Women’s Cap Sleeve T-Shirt, and the Original Fitted T-Shirt.

No one’s bought a Thong yet (prudes!), though we did sell the first Dog T-Shirt to owner Kathy and her four-legged friend, Pee-Wee.

East Village resident Conrad Oakey designed the Save Ray's logo. He and Rosen then helped launch the Save Ray's Cafe Press store, which you can access here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
The Save Ray's clothing and accessories line

[Photo of Ray via Neighborhoodr]

Seventh and A gets the dreaded shed

As Matt Rosen first reported at Neighborhoodr on March 11, facade repairs were scheduled to start soon on the building at Seventh Street and Avenue A... and that scaffolding is now up....



As he noted, "While an aesthetic improvement to the exterior of one’s building might be welcome on most occasions, that the storefronts will now have to deal with scaffolding obstructing their entryways in the prime summer months in an already difficult environment for businesses in the area means they’re none too thrilled about the timing."





Well, people should be able to dine on the sidewalk at Yuca during a rainstorm now...



If anything, I imagine the scaffolding will also provide for some interesting photos in the months ahead by fellow bloggers Bob Arihood, Slum Goddess and Melanie ...

At Ray's, the "line in the sand" for the East Village

At the Observer, W.M. Akers checks in with a nice story on Ray's titled The East Village's 'Line in the Sand.'

Here's an excerpt:

He is a neighborhood fixture, and since January he has emerged, inadvertently, as a cause. Caught between high rent and slow business, he is suddenly a symbol for local residents who feel they have seen every quirk of their neighborhood ironed out and turned into a Chase Bank. East Village organizer "Reverend" Billy Talen called Mr. Alvarez "a line in the sand." But besides being a symbol, he is a person, one who just wants to keep doing what he has done for so long, even though it's no longer marketable.

Read the whole article here. And the Save Ray's clothing/accessories are here.