Nicholas Gray, the founder of Gray’s Papaya, a New York fast food institution, died this week from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 86.
Gray’s storefront, the original site of which was on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, paired hot dogs and papaya juice, earning it legendary status.
The entrepreneur was born in Chile and worked as a stockbroker on Wall Street but became discontented and following a divorce quit his job to open his first restaurant, a franchised location of Papaya King on the Upper West Side, in 1973.
Gray walked by Papaya King and saw how it was full of happy people, while the tropical juice reminded him of his homeland.
The exterior attracted passersby with bright neon sign, while the door would be open during the summer allowing the smell of cooking to waft out.
Nicholas Gray, the founder of Gray’s Papaya, a New York fast food institution, died this week from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 86.
Nicholas Gray, left, would often don a red uniform and serve customers. He is survived by his wife, Rachael Gray, right
Gray’s Papaya is consistently named among the best hot dogs in the city
Gray, who was born in Chile, worked as a stockbroker on Wall Street but became discontented and following a divorce quit his job to open his first restaurant, a franchised location of Papaya King on the Upper West Side, in 1973
He quit his job and entered a franchise agreement with Papaya King to open a location at 72nd Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side. After two years, he went independent and named his restaurant Gray’s Papaya.
The location became famous for low prices that saw it undercut Papaya King, his former partner, by just a few cents.
From the time it opened in 1973 until 1999, Gray sold hot dogs for 50 cents each. It then rose to 75 cents.
In 1982, the restaurant coined its famed ‘Recession Special’ — two hot dogs and a papaya juice for $1.95. The same items are still on offer with a hot dog costing $2.95 and the ‘Recession Special’ at $6.45.
A sign over the door read: ‘When You’re Hungry, or Broke, or Just in a Hurry!’ while another blasted: ‘Let us be frank, we want you to buy our furters. Heh! Heh!… Get it?’
During a 2008 interview with the New York Times Gray said raising prices on his customers was ‘always very traumatic for me as well as for the customers,’ and he even placed a sign in the store window to explain how once ‘galloping inflation in food costs’ essentially forced the restaurant to raise its prices.
The sole surviving location of Gray’s Papaya is pictured at Broadway and 72nd Street on the Upper West Side
The sign has remained a staple on the Upper West Side since the 1970s
Gray, left, can be seen behind the counter with his famed ‘Recession Special’ — two hot dogs and a papaya juice for $6.45 clearly on display
Over the years the restaurant both grew and contracted over the years and featured in several movies including Fools Rush In
Jennifer Lopez, left, and Alex O’Loughlin, right, seen in the 2010 romantic comedy The Back-up Plan
‘Unlike politicians we cannot raise our debt ceiling and are forced to raise our very reasonable prices. Please don’t hate us,’ he begged.
Over the years the restaurant both grew and contracted over the years and featured in several movies and television shows including Fools Rush In, You’ve Got Mail, Sex and the City and Seinfeld.
At one stage there was four locations of Gray’s Papaya: one in Greenwich Village, between 1987 to 2014, two locations in Midtown – both closed by 2021.
Only the original location on the Upper West Side at Broadway and 72nd Street remains. Gray would often don a red uniform and take orders himself from behind the counter.
The store oozes with character and of a New York from days gone by with bright lights, lightning fast service, and a small counter where customers can eat standing up, because there’s no room for any seats.
Gray can be seen with two of his grandchildren at one of his locations
One of the now-closed locations of Gray’s Papaya seen in Midtown Manhattan
Pedestrians cross Eighth Street at Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village in New York at a now shuttered location of Gray’s
New York City Mayor Eric Adams called Gray’s Papaya ‘a New York City institution and a beacon for Polite New Yorkers thanks to Nicholas Gray.’
According to the New York Times, the business has no plans of close with several years yet to run on its lease and plans for its renewal.
Gray’s Papaya has consistently been named among the best hot dogs in the city.
‘It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we announce the passing of a New York icon and our founder, Nicholas Gray,’ the restaurant posted on their Instagram page.
‘An immigrant who opened Gray’s in 1973 and the sweetest, funniest, most eccentric boss, father, husband, and brother. Thank you for the countless lives you brightened one recession special at a time.’
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