Papaya King on Seventh Avenue and West 14th Street was in business until 2009.

The original Papaya King location on the Upper East Side was founded in 1932 by Constantine Poulos. Constantine "Gus" Poulos created Papaya King after falling in love with a papaya drink while on vacation in Cuba. The Poulos family operated the business for 68 years before it was sold to investors but the Original location on 86th and 3rd Avenue is still open (although it was remodeled in 2010. We loved this #neon #signage which was a replica of the original location's #neonsign which was installed in the 1960s.A night version and full interview appears in our book NEW YORK NIGHTS.