Family & Friends Plunged Into Mourning

By: Lieba Nesis

Stanley Chera, a pillar of the Syrian Jewish Community died on April 11, 2020 at the age of 78, The Real Deal reported.  As he laid in a medically induced coma for nearly three weeks at New York Presbyterian Medical Center hundreds were praying for his speedy recovery from the unrelenting  coronavirus.  Those who knew the billionaire real estate developer were quick to heap praise on the business genius whose life revolved around giving charity and spending time with his family.  He was a close personal friend of both Donald Trump and the Kushners, and anyone who has listened to Trump’s press conferences would have heard mention of his great friend lying in the hospital in a coma.  Trump had urged Chera to retreat to his Deal, New Jersey mansion but it was too late-his exposure to groups in the beginning stages left him vulnerable to the viruses’ dire effects.  Stanley’s wife, Cookie, also tested positive but was thankfully spared from the worst of the illness.

The press shy Stanley has left many wondering who he was and when he got his start.   Chera was born to a Syrian Jewish family in 1942.  His father, Isaac opened his first retail store called “Young World” in Brooklyn 5 years later.  As “Young World” expanded they began buying the buildings they were located in.  During the 1980’s Stanley, CEO of the company, spearheaded the purchasing of minority interests in NYC properties.  Encouraged by his success, he became the lead developer on numerous acquisitions in Manhattan during the 2000’s; his specialty being repositioning the retail portion of his buildings and thereafter selling the property.  666 Fifth Avenue, 655 Fifth Avenue, 689 Fifth Avenue, 697-703 Fifth Avenue, 640 Fifth Avenue,  650 Madison Avenue, the St. Regis, One World Trade Center, the Knickerbocker Hotel, and Olympic Tower were just a few of his trophy properties over his illustrious career.

His heavy investments in Red Hook Brooklyn, the Fulton Mall, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island proved equally lucrative; by 2009 he held over 15 million square feet of real estate in New York City.  Chera’s strategy was simple-long term investments in assets with no over-leveraging-never borrowing more than 25-35% of the purchase price.  In one of Chera’s rare interviews in 2010 he told the New York Times, “I have 100 pieces of property, but I could have 1,000 leveraged.”  In that same conversation he revealed his disinterest in clothing saying he buys 10 suits in 15 minutes.

That was the Stanley most people knew-self deprecating, quiet, unassuming and generous to a fault.  Chera was always the behind the scene mover and shaker donating millions to Rabin Medical Center, National Jewish Health, and charities for special needs children.  He also gave nearly a quarter of a million to the Trump campaign introducing the President at the Veterans Day Parade in November 2019.  He was soft spoken, short of words and quiet in temperament.  You never saw his name splashed on the front pages of The Real Deal or the Wall Street Journal-he was the guy sitting unassumingly at the table surrounded by his three sons (who are heading the business) and copious amounts of grandchildren.  I have enclosed a couple of pictures I photographed of Chera at various Jewish events.  The irony that the term “Corona” which means crown in Latin so named for the spiked-like proteins of the virus, mimics the name of his company “Crown Acquisitions” is the ultimate tragedy in a story of a giant whose life was stolen much too soon.