Nicholas Gray, the founder of Gray's Papaya, died at a hospital in Manhattan on Friday.
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He was 86.
According to Gray's daughter, he died of complications of Alzheimer's disease.
The merging of papaya and hot dog hadn't been a thing until Gray teamed with Papaya King in 1973.
After two years, he went independent and branched off to open his famous Gray's Papaya on 72nd and Broadway.
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The restaurant has gone to become a Big Apple institution.
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