Meet the Long Islander who won $100K playing Candy Crush on the LIRR — now he’s gunning for $1M
NY Post
New Yorkers suffer some of the longest commutes in the US, but Long Islander Jay Simunovich wishes his ride to work was longer.
“My commute was about 45 minutes, so as soon as I boarded the Hempstead Line from Floral Park to Penn Station, I was locked into the Candy Kingdom,” he told The Post.
By day, Simunovich, 52, works in fiber optics, but before and after his shift ends, he trains as the reigning Candy Crush champion of the world after achieving sweet victory in the 2023 Candy Crush All-Stars tournament. And he’s planning to do it again this year.
Since 2012, Simunovich has relied on his daily commute via the Long Island Rail Road to play his favorite game, Candy Crush Saga — a ritual that helped him score $100,000 last year. The Candy Crush Saga is a tile-matching game with a confectionary motif where players are awarded “sugar bonuses and tasty candy combos,” per the app’s description.
This year’s global online contest, open to adults who reach Level 25 and above, began on March 28 and concludes April 28. The best player will take home the biggest prize to date, $1 million.
“The LIRR became a lot sweeter when I began to play Candy Crush Saga. From there, beating levels became a staple in my day,” he said.
It was a flashback to NYC in the 1990s.
The killing of Iran’s tyrannical Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday in an unprecedented joint military attack by the US and Israel called Operation Epic Fury set off widespread celebrations from Iranians around the world — as President Trump said it would give them their “greatest chance” to “take back the country.” Meanwhile, in Iran, a lack of internet has made it impossible for Iranians to easily communicate daily conditions. Over a period of three days, with limited VPN connection, an eyewitness currently in Tehran — who, for her safety, is concealing her identity — shared her account of life under a country in the midst of battle with The Post’s Natasha Pearlman.
After exactly 120 years, the curtain has fallen on the Theater District institution Barbetta, with the iconic Italian restaurant having served its final course Friday night.