Taking Care of Ray on Avenue A

In which the neighborhood takes care of Ray.

Ray Alvarez (aka Asghar Ghahraman) remains a beloved member of the community, having served the East Village for nearly four decades at his eponymous Candy Store on Avenue A. Despite the peaks and valleys of his business, what with gentrification ruining the neighborhood, die-hard patrons are taking care of him in his old age. A heartwarming item in Scoopy’s Villager column this week proves as much.

Apparently Ray received a free iPhone, and soon, a complimentary set of pearly whites.

A few weeks ago, we stopped by and he pulled out a new iPhone that Eryn, a former worker of his, had given him. “It’s fun,” he said. This past week two young women from Stuyvesant Town stopped by his counter for a snack. Noticing that Ray is missing his teeth, one of them, in the dental field, told him she’d make him a free set of chompers.