August 20, 2007
Hotelier, Real Estate Developer and "Queen of Mean" Leona Helmsley Dies at 87
Leona Helmsley, whose conviction on tax evasion charges made her infamous beyond her repute as a hotelier and real estate developer, died today at age 87. She and her husband Harry Helmsley (who divorced his wife of 33 years to marry her) ran a $5 billion real estate empire that included the Empire State Building, 230 Park Avenue, Tudor-City, a number of hotels including the Park Lane, New York Helmsley, and Helmsley Palace, and much more.
Helmsley was born Lena Rosenthol in Ulster County and later grew up in Brooklyn, but she became known as the "Queen of Mean" when employees revealed she was a terrible boss and when she allegedly said, "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes." Newsweek even put her on the cover with the headline "Rhymes with Rich" and detailed her "personal unkindness." The CityRoom offered this anecdote about her temper and her role as the symbol of the Helmsley brand:
Hotel employees throughout the Helmsley empire were aware of Mrs. Helmsley’s trigger temper and had arranged a warning system when she left her apartment en route to one of the hotels. But it was not until she starred in glossy advertisements for the hotels that she became a household name. The first ads, for the Harley, showed a smiling Mrs. Helmsley proclaiming that she wouldn’t settle for skimpy towels and couldn’t get along without a phone in the bath. She asked, “Why should you?” Occupancy rates skyrocketed.Helmsley and her husband bought an estate in Greenwich, CT in 1983, and the remodeling and renovation costs added up to $8 million. The Helmsleys' unwillingness to pay contractors led the contractors to send invoices to the Post, that explained how the Helmsleys were charging their home renovation costs to other Helmsley properties.
You can learn more about the tax evasion case, the Helmsley real estate empire and Helmsley herself at Crime Library. Her spokesman Howard Rubenstein said, "Leona was a great businesswoman in her own right who created a tremendous brand and success with Helmsley Hotels and was a wonderful partner and wife to Harry Helmsley. She was extremely generous as a philanthropist and she gave tens of millions of dollars to charity right up until the last months of her life."
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Ding dong!
good
Helmsleys
the guy on the right from channel 2 looks a lot like robert deniro...
WOW! She left tens of millions to charity. What charities, the hotel workers pension fund? When you're worth five billion, tens of millions is chump change. I hope she saved enough from her charitable donations to have a nice headstone made.
Boy was she ugly. You can see greed written all over her face.
Brooke Astor she was not.
cry me a river.
(sigh)
Nice! Someone dies, and people celebrate.
Say's a lot more about you guys then her.
S.D. -
Oh ... you're SOOOOO much better than all of us. So above this.
But she was an uber bitch S.D.
I don't take pleasure in the demise of another human being...
.
.
.
USUALLY
*Pops the Champagne – Poors glasses all around* Cheers
pours*
"Only the little people pay taxes."
Essentially true, Bush tax cut or not. With a good accountant and legal team you can pay as little as you want. Ask the Kennedy family.
taking pleasure or not, she still had the last laugh,
living till 87 ain't that bad, especially when you're filthy rich.
Hotel employees dancing in the alleys!
You people make me sick, this was a human being.
If Leona Helmsley was a man things would have been buisness as usual. However, women who have power and are not connected to a male are normally dealt with accordingly.
I have a hard time celebrating the death of this woman. It not like she killed or raped anyone.
Sad that her PR machine has to try and ride the billionaire-heiress-with a heart of gold sympathy train.
Whatever. She was a wealth hoarding aristocrat. I have no sympathy or remorse for her passing.
She may have been the queen of mean, but let's face it . . . how many of us here were negatively impacted by Leona Helmsley? If you were, then by all means bitch away. Otherwise, celebrating someone's demise can only lead to bad karma. But hey, that's just me.
#8, Duh! That's a given compared to most "guests".
Get a clue: She wasn't a "Nice" lady, but celebrating anyones death, IMO, is just wrong.
How many of us were negatively impacted by Leona Helmsley?
I wasn't paying taxes when she was convicted for tax evasion, but everyone who was paying taxes at that point has an argument that they were negatively impacted by her.
while i'm not celebrating her death, my "cry me a river" was more for the nameless civilians and soldiers dying overseas because of the greed we westerns possess. the news all together is a fuckin;' joke... it's a story and not true journalism.
I would definitely NOT hit that!!!
S.D., I don't think anyone is really celebrating. This is blog full of snarky commentators, making snarky comments. Lighten up.
I read she once worked as a model! For what I can't imagine.
"How many of us were negatively impacted by Leona Helmsley?"
She switched my Rogain with Nair, ran over my dog, twice, and sold poisoned ice cream to my children from a fake Mr Softy Van.
i would celebrate the death of hitler
stalin
GW
reagan
carter
after all, these people did more harm than good during the course of their lives.
TRUST ME ON THIS
Triple H returns at Summerslam!!! Pedigree!
Ok, I'm dying to know: What Did President Carter do to get on that list?
Carter called Pres W. Bush the worst president ever and that totally renders his work for Habitat for Humanity useless. Don't YOU think he should burn that? (I'm kidding of course)
I worked for a firm that represented Leona Helmsley. She was not the most horrible person in the world. She was an old, lonely woman... who just passed away. Yeah, she did some bad things: tax evasion, painting those tacky clouds on the elevators at 230 Park, etc., but her death does not deserve to be celebrated. Shit. I mean really. You're telling me you don't know ANYBODY who doesn't pay their taxes. I doubt it.
Easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle......
You people are way too hard on an individual that struggled through life and gave Harry H. a good time in his later years whether or not he was aware of same.
She died today. Is the world better off or not is hard to decide, but at the same time it's obvious that the world would be better off without another of her ilk. UGLY outside and UGLY inside.
I hope her offspring strangle each other over the division of the spoils. It would be a true legacy to her spirit.
#27, JRod5417, I swear I LMFAO...
#15 "She was a wealth hoarding aristocrat."
I'm descended from Russian aristocracy, and I can assure you, Leona Helmsley was NOT an aristocrat. Phony? Yes. Greedy, cold, self-important, mean and venal? Definitely? Aristocracy? Never!
Aristocrat? From what shithokle did she become royalty? She was the epitome of why most americans don't like Jews. Pathetic is the only thing one can say reflecting on her life.
Now I see why rich old jews worship at the temple of shiksaa.
Can anyone tell me where she will be buried..... I want to dance on her grave in the pale moonlight till dawn. Muwa Ha ha HA ha ha! Chough* Ha ha hah ah ha ha...
Leona Helmsley's will left 12 million dollars to her canine companion. I completely understand how Leona Helmsley adored her dog - many of us love ours deeply, too. I just wish she would have shown her love for all dogs, or even all animals, and not just her own particular dog. Imagine how many pets could have been spayed and neutered for that amount of money, or how many dogs could have been saved from the evils of dogfighting. Her little shih tzu will not know the difference between a diamond-encrusted collar, and one bought from Target. I hope the brother she appointed to be her dog's caretaker, will keep other animals in mind as well. What is good for the animal kingdom, is good for one cute little spoiled pooch.
Nancy J. Cronk
Founder, Chair and Chaplain
Interfaith Association of Animal Chaplains
www.AnimalChaplains.com