After East Village blogger and photographer Bob Arihood passed away on Sept. 30, his life and work were celebrated with a candlelight vigil. On Oct. 4, his friends gathered at Ray’s Candy Store, an ice cream shop and deli that Arihood frequented, to remember the unconventional historian.
Arihood dedicated decades of his life to capturing the grittier aspects of life in the East Village and Lower East Side. Ray’s Candy Store, an Avenue A staple, was the kind of unglamorous, no-frills establishment that he championed. Many people at the vigil remembered his campaign to save the shop and help owner Ray Alvarez when he couldn’t pay his rent. Arihood’s friends young and old alike seemed to be kindred spirits, struggling to maintain an incarnation of the neighborhood that is rapidly disappearing; mentions of NYU and gentrification were met with boos. On the other hand, Arihood was commemorated as an icon of community spirit, a friend who inspired and fostered loves of photography.
Arihood’s blog “Neither More Nor Less” was well-loved for its intimate portraits of everyday life. Prior to his death, he had been covering the beginnings of Occupy Wall Street.