Leona Helmsley

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Leona Helmsley (born Lena Rosenthol July 4, 1920, in Ulster County, New York) is a New York City hotel operator and real estate investor. She was convicted of federal income tax evasion and other crimes in 1989 and served 18 months in prison.

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[edit] Early life

Although she displayed intelligence, Leona was unable to finish high school. She claimed to have attended Hunter College, but the institution reported no record of her attendance. Before her involvement with Harry Helmsley, she was married to two other men; once to attorney Leo E. Panzirer and twice to garment industry figure Joseph Lubin.

[edit] Business success and controversy

Leona was a real estate agent when she met and began her involvement with the then-married multi-millionaire real estate investor Harry Helmsley. Supposedly under her influence, he began a program of conversion of apartment buildings to condominiums, confounding some of the tenants. He eventually despaired of the project's legal complications and concentrated on the hotel industry, building the Helmsley Palace on Madison Avenue near Saint Patrick's Cathedral. Along with that came the Buisness of Helmsley Spear. Together their company managed the Empire State Building.

[edit] The 1980s

Leona Helmsley became infamous during the 1980s for two reasons — as a tyrannical "boss from hell" whose petulance seemed ill-suited to the hospitality industry, and for tax problems. She was convicted and sentenced to prison for one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States[1], three counts of tax evasion[2], three counts of filing false personal tax returns[3], sixteen counts of assisting in the filing of false corporate and partnership tax returns[4], and ten counts of mail fraud.[5]

Harry Helmsley was initially charged as well; however, he was found to be both physically and mentally unfit to stand trial, having begun to appear enfeebled shortly after the beginning of his relationship with Leona Helmsley years before. At her trial, one of the key witnesses against her was a former housekeeper at her Greenwich, Connecticut home, Elizabeth Baum, who recounted having the following exchange with her in said home four to six weeks after Ms. Baum was hired in September 1983, "I said, 'You must pay a lot of taxes.' She said, 'We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.'"[6] Most legal observers felt that Mrs. Helmsley's personality alienated the jurors. She was convicted but eventually managed to have her sentences, originally decades long, largely set aside except for 18 months, which she served. She was released in January 1994.

Leona Helmsley became something of a popular culture symbol of 1980s values for a time, but is now largely forgotten outside of the New York City area. Her last name was adopted by star pro-wrestler Hunter Hearst Helmsley ("Triple H") as part of his wrestling gimmick. Harry left her his entire fortune, estimated to be worth well in excess of $5 billion, upon his death. Part of her company's portfolio at one time included the Empire State Building, The Helmsley Palace (now The New York Palace), The Park Lane Hotel, The Helmsley Middletowne Hotel, The New York Helmsley Hotel (a.k.a. The New York Harley), The Helmsley Windsor Hotel, The St. Moritz (now Ritz Carlton), The Carlton House hotels, the Harley Hotel chain and The Helmsley Building in New York City. However, her legal difficulties were not over. In 2002, she was sued by Charles Bell, a former employee, who sued her alleging that he was discharged solely for being homosexual. A jury agreed and ordered Mrs. Helmsley to pay Bell $11,700,000 in damages; a judge subsequently reduced this amount to $554,000.

She lives in a three-floor penthouse at the Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South in Manhattan.

Forbes magazine has recounted that a feud between her and fellow billionaire real estate tycoon Donald Trump is well known within the real estate community.

[edit] Film adaptations

The story of her adult life was dramatized in the 1990 TV movie Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Mean, which starred Suzanne Pleshette as Leona and Lloyd Bridges as Harry. Pleshette was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the portrayal.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ 18 U.S.C. § 371.
  2. ^ 26 U.S.C. § 7201.
  3. ^ 26 U.S.C. § 7206.
  4. ^ 26 U.S.C. § 7206.
  5. ^ 18 U.S.C. § 1341. See United States v. Helmsley, 941 F.2d 71, 91-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 50,455 (2d Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1091 (1992).
  6. ^ "Maid Testifies Helmsley Denied Paying Taxes: Says She Told Her 'Only the Little People Pay,'" Associated Press (AP), carried in New York Times, July 12, 1989, pg. B2. See also "Number 27743," The Columbia World of Quotations (Columbia University Press, 1996).

[edit] External links

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