Credit: Mary Jenkins
In May 2023, Pine Plains Pharmacy owner and pharmacist Nasir Mahmood was surprised with an eviction notice. “Pine Plains Realty [a private partnership] decided to sell the property,” he said. “They gave me one month to vacate.”
Opened in 1989, the pharmacy occupies the ground level of the 130-year-old building on the northwest corner of Church and Main streets. Originally home to a series of retail stores, in 1938 local Anthony Matragrano converted the first floor into a pharmacy. With his partner Peter Robinson, it became the Matragrano and Robinson Pharmacy in 1951.
Initially splitting the costs with the building’s three owners, Mahmood became sole proprietor of Pine Plains Pharmacy in 2006. He said that same year he purchased 25% of the building from Pine Plains Realty, and hoped one day to own it.
“When they decided to sell last May, I really wanted to buy the property, but the asking price was too high,” said Mahmood. “We started negotiations, and meanwhile I began looking for another suitable space.”
For Mahmood, his fruitless search for a new location was an emotional roller-coaster ride. “This past year took 10 years off my life,” he said.
The pharmacist looked at the Church Street grange, next to Peck’s, but said the cost of converting the two-story structure into a pharmacy would have been exorbitant. “I would have had to install an elevator for my disabled customers,” Mahmood said. The old gas station site on Route 199 across the street from St. Anthony’s Church — encumbered with multiple property liens by New York State Department of Environmental Conservation — was also not suitable for a pharmacy.
Mahmood said he approached members of the Mirto family who owned Lia’s Mountain View Restaurant on Route 82, but they sold it to Pine Plains resident Jack Banning.
Mahmood considered building a new pharmacy behind Stewart’s on South Main Street but, he said, owner Dale Mitchell told him the land is committed to Hudson River Housing.
Word about Mahmood’s search spread and several area residents, including people he barely knew, got involved. “Members of the community were looking for properties for me, trying to help, but no one could find anything,” he said.
Pine Plains Realty withdrew its offer to sell the property in November 2023, and instead offered Mahmood a five-year lease agreement. “I was willing to sign on for one year, but not long term: the rent was very high and I was still hoping some property would become available,” he said. However, after receiving a second 30-day eviction notice in February, Mahmood signed the five-year lease. “I had no choice,” he said. “I had no place to move the pharmacy.”
For now, Mahmood is relieved that things are finally settled. “The community helped me through very rough circumstances, and I’m grateful,” he said. “We can make it with everyone’s continued support, so everything at Pine Plains Pharmacy can remain business as usual.”