GODDESS6
08-21-2007, 06:36 AM
Hotelier Leona Helmsley dies at 87
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/am-helmsleyobit0821,0,544138.story?coll=ny_home_rail_headlines
Leona Helmsley, who died Monday at the age of 87, perhaps is best remembered for what she didn't like.
Water droplets on lettuce leaves. Waiters who noisily clinked dinner plates. Hot food on her private airplane (she thought the heat could make the plane explode).
Helmsley, the eccentric hotelier and real-estate tycoon who became an iconic figure in New York City thanks to her ubiquitous advertisements and reputation as the cold, cruel "Queen of Mean," died of heart failure at her Greenwich, Conn., home Monday.
"Only the little people pay taxes," the housekeeper testified Helmsley said, making the phrase every bit as memorable as the elaborate newspaper and magazine ads that featured Helmsley as a queen presiding over her hotels.
An '80s version of American royalty, Leona Helmsley decked herself out in tiaras and ballgowns with sleeves puffed larger than her head to advertise her hotel, the Helmsley Palace.
The ads appeared nationwide, in newspapers and magazines -- so often that Helmsley's face, with its arched eyebrows and no-nonsense smile, became a household icon.
Her publicist, Howard Rubenstein, remembered not being as thrilled as Helmsley was with the saturation ads.
"I was advising her to cool it," Rubenstein said. "It's the problem of any celebrity that overdoes it. ... If people think they're overdoing it, someone will try to take them down."
He blames the intense pubicity on Helmsley's later treatment in court on tax-fraud charges. She was convicted in 1989; her aging husband was deemed unfit to stand trial.
While Helmsley portrayed herself as a benevolent queen in her advertisements, employees said she reigned like Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts. Instead of beheadings, though, she fired them.
Elaine Silverstein, chairwoman of Beber Silverstein Group, the ad agency that launched the Helmsley Palace ads, said her firm was fired by Helmsley three times.
"She could have someone in her office with a cold and she'd say, 'Tomorrow I'll send you some chicken soup.' And she would," Silverstein said. "But the next day she'd cut their head off."
Hubie Weyer, Helmsley's personal assistant for about 15 years, called the job "an emotional rollercoaster."
Helmsley "could be very endearing at times and she could be totally impossible at other times," Weyer said. "There were two sides to her. There was no medium."
Helmsley's death spurred kind words from bitter rivals as well as admirers.
Donald Trump, who was once quoted describing Helmsley as a "horrible, horrible human being" called her "one of a kind" on Monday.
"Harry loved being with her and the excitement she brought -- and that is all that really matters," Trump said in a statement.
Helmsley's empire included some of the most prominent properties in New York City -- her company manages and leases the Empire State Building and 230 Park Avenue, among others.
As Helmsley aged, she stepped out of the public light, Rubenstein said.
"She said, 'Look, I've had enough public exposure,'" Rubenstein said. "For years she tried to keep it low key."
Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, of which Helmsley's husband, Harry, was once governor, said Helmsley leaves "a pioneering legacy for all women in the real estate industry.
"Together with her Harry, she forged an amazing and successful business and broke into the boys' club of real estate," said Spinola.
Helmsley is survived by a brother, four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Funeral services have not been announced, nor the plans for Helmsley's sizable estate, but Rubenstein said a public memorial likely will occur in about a month.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/am-helmsleyobit0821,0,544138.story?coll=ny_home_rail_headlines
Leona Helmsley, who died Monday at the age of 87, perhaps is best remembered for what she didn't like.
Water droplets on lettuce leaves. Waiters who noisily clinked dinner plates. Hot food on her private airplane (she thought the heat could make the plane explode).
Helmsley, the eccentric hotelier and real-estate tycoon who became an iconic figure in New York City thanks to her ubiquitous advertisements and reputation as the cold, cruel "Queen of Mean," died of heart failure at her Greenwich, Conn., home Monday.
"Only the little people pay taxes," the housekeeper testified Helmsley said, making the phrase every bit as memorable as the elaborate newspaper and magazine ads that featured Helmsley as a queen presiding over her hotels.
An '80s version of American royalty, Leona Helmsley decked herself out in tiaras and ballgowns with sleeves puffed larger than her head to advertise her hotel, the Helmsley Palace.
The ads appeared nationwide, in newspapers and magazines -- so often that Helmsley's face, with its arched eyebrows and no-nonsense smile, became a household icon.
Her publicist, Howard Rubenstein, remembered not being as thrilled as Helmsley was with the saturation ads.
"I was advising her to cool it," Rubenstein said. "It's the problem of any celebrity that overdoes it. ... If people think they're overdoing it, someone will try to take them down."
He blames the intense pubicity on Helmsley's later treatment in court on tax-fraud charges. She was convicted in 1989; her aging husband was deemed unfit to stand trial.
While Helmsley portrayed herself as a benevolent queen in her advertisements, employees said she reigned like Alice in Wonderland's Queen of Hearts. Instead of beheadings, though, she fired them.
Elaine Silverstein, chairwoman of Beber Silverstein Group, the ad agency that launched the Helmsley Palace ads, said her firm was fired by Helmsley three times.
"She could have someone in her office with a cold and she'd say, 'Tomorrow I'll send you some chicken soup.' And she would," Silverstein said. "But the next day she'd cut their head off."
Hubie Weyer, Helmsley's personal assistant for about 15 years, called the job "an emotional rollercoaster."
Helmsley "could be very endearing at times and she could be totally impossible at other times," Weyer said. "There were two sides to her. There was no medium."
Helmsley's death spurred kind words from bitter rivals as well as admirers.
Donald Trump, who was once quoted describing Helmsley as a "horrible, horrible human being" called her "one of a kind" on Monday.
"Harry loved being with her and the excitement she brought -- and that is all that really matters," Trump said in a statement.
Helmsley's empire included some of the most prominent properties in New York City -- her company manages and leases the Empire State Building and 230 Park Avenue, among others.
As Helmsley aged, she stepped out of the public light, Rubenstein said.
"She said, 'Look, I've had enough public exposure,'" Rubenstein said. "For years she tried to keep it low key."
Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, of which Helmsley's husband, Harry, was once governor, said Helmsley leaves "a pioneering legacy for all women in the real estate industry.
"Together with her Harry, she forged an amazing and successful business and broke into the boys' club of real estate," said Spinola.
Helmsley is survived by a brother, four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Funeral services have not been announced, nor the plans for Helmsley's sizable estate, but Rubenstein said a public memorial likely will occur in about a month.