November 25 was an emotional day for customers and employees of Quality Health Drugs on 164th Street and Ogden Avenue. That day, Nabil Aly, who owned the pharmacy for eleven years, worked his final day there. “One customer came in when I was leaving,” Aly said,  “and she started crying. She made me cry , and the employees cried too.” 

But while he was sad to leave, Aly said his hours were simply too strenuous, particularly when added to a lengthy commute; he lives in Staten Island, roughly an hour-long drive from the South Bronx, and worked 9:00 am-7:00 pm six days a week. “I have a three-year-old daughter,” Aly explained, “and I don’t spend much time with her. That’s one of the main reasons [for leaving].”

Employees of Quality Health Drugs described Aly as bending over backwards to accommodate the needs of customers, whether it was providing them with a short-term supply of medications if their prescription wasn’t due for a refill, or even memorizing a patient’s preferred color of pills.

Miriam Rajpaul said Aly had influenced her greatly as an employee and as a person. “When I got here, I didn’t know anything about medications,” Rajpaul said. “Now, I can go to the shelf and grab the bottles. Besides that, he taught me how to be polite with people. I learned a lot from him.”  

Carol Roha said Aly usually knew the medication,  strength, and color customers needed as soon as they walked in the door. “I think that was one of his superpowers,”  Roha said. Roha added that Aly had inspired her to pursue her education and to overcome shyness in interacting with customers. Both Roha and Rajpaul praised Aly’s flexibility with their work schedules—if, for instance, one of their kids was ill.

Customers also spoke highly of Aly. Tyoga Irvin, a longtime patron, said he had never observed him upset or angry. Irvin also praised Aly’s reliability. “If it [medication] wasn’t available at the time I came for it, he’d tell me I’d have it in two days, three days,” Irvin said. “And he’d have it.”

Anna Perez said Quality Health Drugs was the only pharmacy she used, and said one of the reasons was that Aly didn’t demand a co-pay when she picked up medications.
Purna Aramalla, the new owner of Quality Health  Drugs, acknowledged that following Aly was a tough act, but he promised to carry on the tradition of the previous owner. “We give them good service and treat them as Nabil treated them,” Aramalla said.
Aly said he vouched for Aramalla as a person and that the pharmacy will be in good hands.
Aly also said that upon his departure, he wanted to extend special thanks to Rajpaul, Roha and three other employees—Elvis Cruz, Aryany Perez, and Jackie Abreu.
While he said he is not retiring altogether as a pharmacist, Aly is not sure what the future holds. He plans to visit Highbridge frequently, but his contract with Quality Health Drugs
prevents him from opening a new pharmacy here for at least three years.

 “I’m taking a vacation and going to Egypt,” Aly said. “And then when I come back, I’ll decide what to do.”