MoRUS sits down with Matt Rosen, The Man Behind the Twitter Accounts

MoRUS had the opportunity to sit down with the man behind Ray Alvarez and Jim Power’s Twitter accounts. Here’s what we learned:

When asked what inspired this project, Matt Rosen told us that he began it with Ray Alvarez. Rosen grew up in the neighborhood, living not too far from Ray’s Candy Store, which was established in 1974. A store that has been around that long is undoubtedly famous among local residents and more so because of Ray Alvarez’s geniality toward these residents and the hard work he puts into his business. It is no surprise that the whole neighborhood rushed out to help Ray raise money when he started struggling to pay his rent. It was around this time that Matt Rosen decided to take on the task of marketing for Ray in order to help his business flourish.

With Jim Power, Rosen suggested that, like Ray, time and age slowly drove him off the grid (though anyone in the East Village will acknowledge Jim’s unceasing drive to beautify the community with his radical street art). As with Ray, Matt’s marketing for Jim was aimed at promoting someone who had given so much to the community, getting his name out there and acknowledging his relentless efforts. Rosen wanted to appreciate these legendary individuals and help them realize their potential.

Rosen continued to describe some of the difficulties he encountered with this volunteerism and how social media affected these individuals.  Age was one of the main factors. With Ray, Rosen told us that a lot of his prices had not changed for many years. He needed to realize that is was OK to increase some of his prices in order to make ends meet. Communication with Jim was also – and has continued be – difficult at times because of Jim’s physical impairments.

Rosen said that his early expectations to encounter some of these difficulties allowed him to fully dive into the task and see the project through. He also added that once he had put in a lot of time and effort into helping these men he did not see any point in going back.

The positive effects of Rosen’s projects have also kept him going.  Ray’s business has taken off due to the increased marketing, and last year his business was more successful than ever before. More young people are also frequenting the store these days and Jim has been featured in the New York Post and received a grant, something that never happened to him before.