Leona Helmsley | The New York Observer

Leona Helmsley Trust Sheds Two Manhattan Properties

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:25:06 -0400

The estate holding the assets of the one-time hotelier and reputed Queen of Mean Leona Helmsley sold two properties on Manhattan's East Side on Oct. 1, according to city records.

The properties in question are a ground-floor 4,178-square-foot retail condominium at 760 Third Avenue and the nearby 144 East 48th Street, a 114,500-square-foot apartment building between Third and Lexington avenues. A partnership with principals in Mamaroneck and Los Angeles bought the two properties for a...

Exorcising Leona From the Helmsley Hotel She Made Famous

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:36:28 -0400

The New York Helmsley Hotel, that 775-room inn trapped in a design hell of 1980s Greed-Is-Good glamour, is getting a face-lift, one to obliterate many of the fingerprints of the late Queen of Mean herself, Leona Helmsley.

While you still can, walk through the revolving doors of 212 East 42nd Street and step into the hotel’s intimate lobby, one of at least six in New York City where Leona reigned. You will find yourself standing...

A Whiff of Woof: Leona Helmsley’s Dog-Entrusted Bro Buys $2 M. Co-op

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:55:26 -0500

Leona Helmsley, an icon of ’80s-era superciliousness and a glowing tribute to the timeless Manhattan id, died two years ago of heart failure at age 87, but her legacy lived on. Her will excluded two grandchildren (“for reasons which are known to them”) but set aside $12 million for Trouble, her 8-year-old white Maltese. The dog was left to her brother, Alvin Rosenthal, who himself got $10 million.

Even though Mr. Rosenthal...

The Late Leona's Dog Will Live Large [UPDATED]

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:35:48 -0400

Leona Helmsley left her dog Trouble $12 million. The real estate mogul's will, which became public on Tuesday, stipulates that Helmsley's brother Alvin Rosenthal is to care for the white Maltese--until it dies and is buried alongside Helmsley in a Bronx mausoleum.

Mr. Rosenthal, for his part, got millions from his late sister, and two of Helmsely's four grandchildren will get $10 million each. Her other two grandchildren--for "reasons that are known to them,"...

Leona's 'Rattlesnake' Eulogizes the 'Queen of Mean'

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:19:21 -0400

The reports are in from the funeral of Leona Helmsley, which was attended by about 150 people--an invite-only crowd of colleagues, employees and family members. It's no surprise this was not like lying in state; the so-called 'Queen of Mean' was the sworn enemy of many in New York's real-estate elite, not least of all Donald Trump and Peter Malkin, who wrestled with her for control of the Empire State Building.

But from at least...

Leona Helmsley, 'Queen of Mean,' Dies at 87

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 10:40:37 -0400

Leona Helmsley died of heart failure today at her Greenwich, Conn., summer home at age 87, according to her longtime publicist Howard Rubenstein.

Helmsley and her husband Harry, whom she married in 1972, amassed a New York City real estate empire that eventually included the Empire State Building, Tudor City and 230 Park Avenue. She would also supervise the development of the Park Lane Hotel, the New York Helmsley Hotel and the Helmsley Palace...

Greenwich In a Snit

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 03:56:01 -0500

In a part of Greenwich where giant mansions are the rule, locals seem to want to set a limit: With plans calling for almost 39,000 square feet in the main building, plus an 1,165-square-foot pool house, the home that Joseph M. Jacobs, a 53-year-old hedge fund manager, wants to build for his family on 11 acres in the Conyers Farm section of town would be twice the size of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch and would...

Hey, Renée–Where's the Funeral? Undertaker Chic at Golden Globes

Sun, 26 Jan 2003 19:00:00 -0500

I can't help myself. After all, I'm only human. Like any right-thinkin' New Yorker, I am hopelessly caught in the thrall of hell-raising hotelier Leona Helmsley. Especially after last week's Leathergate down at the Manhattan Supreme Court.

Who amongst us was not riveted by the torrent of sordidrevelations that poured forth duringthegay-biastrial, wherein La Helmsley is attempting to defend herself against litigious former employee Charles Bell? Mr. Bell alleges that Leona called him "fag...