Stanley Chera in coma with Covid-19

Retail mogul was recently hospitalized

Stanley Chera, one of the largest retail landlords in New York City, has fallen into a coma after contracting Covid-19.

Chera, 78, was admitted to New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center after coming down with an unknown illness while at his summer home near Deal, N.J., the New York Post reported last week.

Now, Vanity Fair reports that the Crown Acquisitions founder is in a coma and his illness was caused by the coronavirus. Chera is a personal friend of President Donald Trump, and Vanity Fair reported that his hospitalization was a turning point in changing Trump’s stance on combating the virus.

“Boy, did that hit home. Stan is like one of his best friends,” Trump donor Bill White told the publication.

Trump had advised Chera to leave New York and spend time in Deal, a popular vacation-home destination for many moguls hailing from the Syrian Jewish community, which is prominent in New York retail.

As recently as Monday, Chera’s son Haim, who is head of retail at Vornado Realty Trust, said his father was “doing very well.”

Crown Acquisitions’ New York holdings include stakes in a large Manhattan retail portfolio it co-owns with Vornado, 650 Madison Avenue and the Olympic Tower.

The Chera family started in the apparel business and invested in the buildings that housed its chain of children’s clothing stores, known as Young World, founded by Stanley’s father, Isaac. By the late 1980s, Stanley was investing in major Manhattan real estate. [Vanity Fair] — Rich Bockmann