If you have walked by Stanley’s Pharmacy on the corner of Ludlow and Hester streets in the past few days, you have seen the makeshift memorial. The owner of the trailblazing Lower East Side business, Stanley George, died on Wednesday, August 24.
According to social media posts, George passed away, “from complications during a routine outpatient medical procedure.” The announcement emphasized George’s passion for wellness and his strong ties to the Lower East Side community:
Stanley’s Pharmacy was an integral part of the Lower Manhattan business community and a beacon of health and wellness for its residents. Stanley’s unique pharmacy fused traditional healthcare with holistic medicine and philosophy: body, mind and soul. Stanley’s true passion was interacting with people in the community on a daily basis and lifting everyone’s spirits. A void will be felt on Ludlow Street in his absence.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, September 3 at 10:30 a.m. at Reach Church, 294 Old Mamaroneck Rd., White Plains. A separate celebration of George’s life is also being planned for September 14th in New York City, on what would have been his 49th birthday.
George was the son of immigrants from India. He was born in the Bronx. In 1995, he graduated from the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy. In describing his vision for Stanley’s Pharmacy, George told The New York Times, he was recalling a bygone era, “when you knew the pharmacist by name and the pharmacy was a neighborhood meeting place.”
