Stanley Chera

Chera was born on October 22, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York City, to a Syrian Jewish family.[3][4][5][6] In 1947,[1] his father Isaac Chera opened a retail store called Young World in Brooklyn.[4] The family later purchased the building and grew Young World into a chain purchasing the buildings as they expanded.[4]

In the 1980s, Chera (then in charge of the family company) started purchasing real estate in New York City[1] at first as a minority partner and later in 2000s as the lead developer.[4] Chera was known for developing or "repositioning" the retail portion of his buildings and then selling the property.[4]

In a joint venture with The Carlyle Group and Charles Kushner, Chera sold the retail portion of 666 Fifth Avenue in two transactions for more than $1 billion;[7] and also the retail portion of the St. Regis Hotel in a joint venture with Lloyd Goldman and Jeffrey Feil for $380 million.[8] In 2010, he began the restoration of The Knickerbocker Hotel in Manhattan.[1][9] In 2012, Chera purchased 49.9% interest in a four-building Fifth Avenue portfolio that included the Olympic Tower for $1 billion from the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation.[10]

In June 2013, Chera purchased 650 Madison Avenue for $1.3 billion in partnership with Highgate Holdings from the Carlyle Group.[7][8] He was an investor in the One World Trade Center[1] and accumulated significant property in Red Hook, Brooklyn.[1] Crown was also a prominent investor (along with Albert Laboz, Joseph Jemal, and Eli Gindi) in the Fulton Mall in Brooklyn.[11] Chera had a conservative investment strategy borrowing no more than 25–35% of the purchase price[1] given that they were long term holders in assets.[4] In 2009, Crown held 15,000,000 square feet (1,400,000 m²) real estate in New York City.[12]

Chera and his wife Frieda, nicknamed "Cookie",[13] had three sons: Isaac "Ike", Haim, and Richard, all active in the family business.[4][14] Chera was a leader in the Brooklyn Sephardic Jewish community. Chera was an associate and friend of Donald Trump, and donated to the Trump Victory Committee.[15][16]

Chera was hospitalized for an unknown illness in March 2020[17] and later tested positive for COVID-19. Prior to his hospitalization, he had relocated to his home in Deal, New Jersey.[18] Chera entered a coma the following week[19] and died on April 11, 2020.[20] His wife also contracted the virus, but recovered.[13]

Donald Trump, in a May 2020 Fox News interview,[21] described Chera's death as having a high impact on his thinking:

I've lost three friends. One, a very good friend, a very successful man, New York guy, employed a lot of people that were all crying over his death. Stanley Chera. He went to the hospital, he calls me up. He goes, "I tested positive." I said, "Well, what are you going to do?" He said, "I'm going to the hospital. I'll call you tomorrow." He didn't call. I call the hospital, he's in a coma. Now, I know a lot of people that had the flu, they were never in a coma.

When Trump contracted COVID he said "Am I going out like Stan Chera? Am I?"[22]