A 41-year-old man believed to be an employee was found dead inside Staten Island’s iconic Ralph’s Italian Ices shop over the weekend, cops and sources said.
The man was discovered unconscious and unresponsive in the rear of the shop on Port Richmond Avenue near Catherine Street around 9:50 a.m. Saturday, police said.
The man, whose identity has not been released pending family notification, was pronounced dead at the scene by responding EMS workers.
He appears to have worked at the establishment, police sources said.
The city medical examiner’s office will officially determine how he died, and no details were immediately known on the circumstances.
The shop temporarily closed on Saturday following the incident, and reopened on Sunday, according to a Facebook post.
The family-run Port Richmond Ralph’s Italian Ices first opened in 1949, and it has since evolved into a chain with multiple other locations opening across the city and the tri-state area.
The popular eatery has since played host to the Staten Island-born Wu-Tang Clan, who filmed a segment for their Hulu production, “Wu-Tang: An American Saga” there in 2019.
That same year, a scene was also filmed at Ralph’s for the 2020 dark comedy-drama flick “King of Staten Island,” directed by Judd Apatow and starring Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei and Bill Burr.
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