Beloved 90-year-old East Village shop owner Ray Alvarez has a real Guardian Angel looking out for him

The Angels are on the side of a beloved East Village store owner.

Local hero Ray Alvarez, 90, received an award of friendship Saturday from Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa — who recounted the time his life was spared by the neighborhood fixture about 30 years ago. Sliwa recalled taking a pounding on the street during his time living on Avenue A before Alvarez called the cops and gave him a chance to bolt.

The assailant “had me on the ground, would have either killed me or turned me into a vegetable, and Ray came out and did an intervention,” said Sliwa, who heaped praise on the feisty owner of Ray’s Candy Store.

Alvarez took an ugly beating nearly two weeks ago from a man trying to peddle him two cases of seltzer outside his store in the middle of the night. He was still sporting a black eye and nasty scratch to the side of his face when greeted by Sliwa, and wore a baseball cap with the words “New York Old Soul.”

“The man is just incredible,” said Sliwa. “There’s a lot of us would not have been able to take the lickin’ and come back tickin’!”

Alzarez was indeed back at the store within hours after Luis Perozo allegedly whacked him with a rock attached to a belt.

“Thank you for the present very much,” said Alvarez of his framed “Friend of the Guardian Angels” certificate. “Oh my friends, thank you. I’m feeling great.”

Perozo, 39, was arrested last week and charged with assault on the very senior citizen. Sliwa expressed his admiration for the store owner’s grit and quick return to the store.

“This man is just incredible,” said the local radio host and one-time mayoral candidate. “I mean, think of it. This guy is up all night, old school, hasn’t left.”