(Actually, if you look at the awning you'll see they've carefully stated it's THE ONE & ONLY FAMOUS RAY'S PIZZA OF GREENWICH VILLAGE.) The one that's closing is in SoHo (on Prince Street), and the Times reporter finds confirmation of its firstness in its never having insisted it was first. In my perverse inconvenient-fact way I'm persuaded by the fact that it wasn't even founded by someone named Ray. Ralph Cuomo thought "Ralph's" sounded too feminine, hence "Ray's." That has the ring of truth.
I may be thinking of this if, as proposed, the ERSEH team meets next June in Shangrila - not the mythical one, but a town in Yunnan which the tourism-savvy provincial government registered under the fabled name, to the consternation of tourism officials in other provinces.
