On the streets of New York City, a purple lemonade stand is offering something you won’t find on any menu: heartfelt advice from a grandma who truly listens. It’s called The Grandma Stand, a rotating pop-up staffed by about 15 New York grandmas who sit down with strangers in parks and sidewalks to talk through life’s biggest (and smallest) worries.
The idea began back in 2012, when Brooklyn resident Mike Matthews gave a coworker going through a breakup his own grandmother’s phone number. Grandma Eileen, calling in from Seattle, lifted her spirits so much that the conversations kept going. Matthews soon set up a simple stand with a laptop and headphones so strangers in NYC could talk to his grandma too, and The Grandma Stand was born.
For six years, Grandma Eileen spoke with thousands of people before passing away in 2018 at age 102. Matthews retired the stand, but revived it in 2024, inspired by how overwhelmed people felt by stress, politics, and life in general. He painted a new stand Eileen’s favorite color, purple, and invited local grandmas to take part.
Today, the Grandma Stand pops up all over NYC, from Central Park to busy Manhattan corners. Each stand features a question prompt like “What do you wish you had a second chance at?” But visitors are welcome to bring whatever’s on their mind. As Matthews puts it, these grandmas have lived through it all, and they’re here to listen.
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