Since Sunday night, thousands of New Yorkers have been forced to extend their commute or make alternate plans to cope with the C train debacle. But straphangers aren’t the only ones suffering-the owners of newsstands in several C train subway stops, many of which are recent immigrants whose livelihood depends on New Yorkers’ appetite for newspapers and candy, told The New York Sun that business is off up to 20% since C train service was halted.

At the Chambers Street stop, the smell of burnt ozone still hangs in the air, giving the man running its modest news kiosk, Mustafa Alamgir, a headache. Worse, business has dropped off sharply, as indicated by his thumbs down gesture. “A train isn’t coming here anymore, so no papers or candy sales.”

Anecdotally, Mr. Alamgir was right. Over a 20-minute period in the middle of the afternoon, only a few customers picked over tabloid papers and his modest candy selection. A grand total of three sales were made, none for more than a dollar.

Mr. Alamgir, 52, a native of Bangladesh, said with trains 15 minutes apart, people are in a rush when they get off the train and don’t linger for the Snickers bar or to browse the papers. “Everybody’s in a rush because now they are late,” he said. Still, the five-month veteran who said he works 10-hour days remained optimistic about business prospects. “It smelled worse on Monday, really heavy. And much colder too.”

The newsstand at the larger, busier subway stop at West 4th Street, where the Eighth Avenue A and E trains stop, as well as the Sixth Avenue B, D, F and V trains, has “definitely been affected,” said the manager on duty, Massoud Ali. “It’s hard to say how much but we are not selling as much of everything.” He placed the monetary damages at “maybe $50 a day.”

Mr. Massoud’s stand, unlike Mr. Alamgir’s at Chambers Street, was more full-service, with five or six customers at a time picking over the longer newsstands selection of papers, candy and hanging magazines. Nonetheless, Mr. Massoud, 39, insisted that the C Train’s woes could be seen in the size of the crowds. “Sometimes we have 10-12 people at once here. They buy soda’s and magazines, everything.”

The sharpest reported drop was at the Columbus Circle stop at 59th Street. The owner of the station’s two newsstands, Tarik Shem, said the C Train service suspension has cost his business 20%. Moreover, as luck would have it, “All my best customers seemed to ride that line. They bought the good magazines, cigarettes and soda,” he lamented. By “good magazines,” Mr. Shem referred to trade, sports and adult magazines that carry a margin of up to 40% for him, whereas general circulation publications have a 20% margin.

Mr. Shem said that with annual rent increases of 5% locked into his lease, losing 20% of his business for more than a year might make his business unprofitable. Since opening at 7 a.m., he had made only $470 in sales through 2 p.m. Usually, he said, he would have rung up $550-$600 by now.” Gesturing with his hands, the 43-year old Mr. Shem, a native of Pakistan, said, “Look at this place. It used to be busy. Now, people only buy water bottles and a paper.”