East Village brute bashes 90-year-old owner of Ray’s Candy Store in head with rock: reports

Police in the East Village are looking for the brute who bashed the 90-year-old owner of the iconic Ray’s Candy Store with a large rock earlier this week.

Ray Alvarez is now recovering from the vicious assault that occurred at 3 a.m. on Jan. 31 outside his famous establishment at 113 Avenue A, according to the New York Post.

Law enforcement sources said the suspect approached Alvarez with a strange package and asked him to buy it. The senior then asked what was inside before the brute threatened to kill him.

Authorities said the attacker then swung a belt with a heavy rock attached to it — hitting Alvarez on the left side of his head and face that caused bleeding.

Officers from the 9th Precinct responded to the scene. Alvarez suffered swelling to his left eye, as local blog EV Grieve reported, but was not hospitalized for his injuries.

East Villagers have come to Ray’s Candy Store as a historic spot to indulge in sweets such as their iconic egg creams. Alvarez, who has owned the shop since 1974, has become something of a neighborhood legend; before the pandemic, in 2020, his friends and neighbors threw him a spectacular birthday party featuring burlesque dancers.

Police have released photos and video of the suspect who assaulted Alvarez, taken from in front of 158 Avenue C.  The brute is shown wearing a black du-rag and a black coat while pushing a purple shopping cart full of items.

Anyone with information in regard to this assault is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).