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Felicia
15 years ago

Hey it was hers and I am sure she had her reasons! Those grandkids I bet proffit one way or another.There are two sides to every story.Let them make their own way! I am glad she made the donations she did. They really should be proud and recognize her for it!! FDC

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Respectance
16 years ago

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Respectance
16 years ago

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Respectance
16 years ago

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Anonymous
16 years ago

Seven years ago I sent Leona Helmsley an email telling her what nice hotels she had and much to my surprise she took the time out to mail me a thank you letter and signed it; so I say 'Maybe, she's not the bad evil person they say she is. She may have said and done things that were "mean" and hurtful but hasn't anyone ever wondered if in her life she was the one the people were mean and hurtful to? She grew up dirt poor never really enjoyed a childhood because she had to work and support her family like most children of her generation so she had that still in her head and never coped from that. She was one of the first few women to break in to the real estate business and earn respect from the "boys club". Yes, she got blind-sided by greed by not paying taxes and left 12 mil to her dog but what about the rest of the fortune that is going to charity. People and the media want to forget that she has donated millions to 9/11 families and families devastated by Hurricane Katrina and a hospital in Connecticut. So, maybe the Queen wasn't so "mean" just sad that she never had the unconditional love and appreciation that she so wanted. so I say to Leona over at the great beyond, rest easy with Harry and a be-lated thanks for responding to my email.

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Marie L'Etoile
16 years ago

I read this Daily News article: Leona Helmsley's former housekeeper said yesterday the Queen of Mean's pampered $12 million pooch made life miserable for the hired help. "We had so much trouble with Trouble," Zamfira Sfara told the Daily News. "I was bitten dozens of times." The Romanian housekeeper, who worked in Helmsley's posh apartment in the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel, described the lavish life the 8-year-old Maltese shared with Helmsley. The hotel queen, who died last week at age 87, showered love and money on the furball, who snagged the largest individual trust from her fortune, which is worth at least $4 billion. Helmsley .believed her late husband, Harry, communicated with her through the dog. "I never saw a human being so in love with an animal," said Sfara, 48. "They were always together everywhere." Helmsley even shared her double king-size bed with Trouble, Sfara said, and lots of kisses. "She would lick the dog tongue to tongue," she said. "It was unnatural. It was unhealthy." So it didn't surprise the maid that her old boss left $12 million to the pet while disowning two grandchildren she had feuded with for years. "Leona wanted everybody to love her, but she knew nobody loved her," Sfara said. "This dog replaced that love." Trouble was dressed in pricey outfits and sported a diamond collar. The dog's chef-prepared meals - steamed vegetables and steamed or grilled chicken and fish - arrived in porcelain bowls on a silver tray. "The chef would have to leave all the [hotel] customers to make Trouble's food," Sfara said. "After it was mixed, I would have to get down on my knees and feed the dog with my two fingers." Trouble, apparently, didn't appreciate Helmsley's hired help. "Everybody was bitten: bodyguards, the head of security, even customers got bitten," said Sfara, who sued Helmsley in 2005 after, she said, Trouble bit her. "You'd never know when she would bite you," she said. "One time when she bit me, she was chewing on my fingers, and Leona said, 'Good for you, Trouble, she deserved it.' " Sfara, who worked for Helmsley for several months, said she suffered permanent nerve damage from Trouble's bites. She still wears a brace on her right hand. Helmsley fought Sfara's suit, now on appeal, until the day she died. Helmsley didn't think two of her own grandchildren, Craig and Meegan Panzirer, deserved any of her money, either. She left them out of a will filed this week in Manhattan Surrogate's Court. "She spends $12 million on a dog and nothing for her grandkids," said Sfara. "Forget about me, what about her grandchildren? What about her blood?"

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16 years ago

Most of her fortune went to her dog. In a few years the dog will join her in the crypt...interesting decision from an interesting woman.

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Respectance
16 years ago

Leona left $12 million for the care of her white Maltese dog, Trouble, who lived up to his name by once biting the housekeeper. Only 2 of her 4 grandchildren will get any inheritance, for reasons "only they know." The rest of her estate will be sold and donated to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. What do you think? What is Trouble going to do with $12 mil?

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Emme Levine
16 years ago

"Earlier this year, Forbes magazine ranked her as the 369th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion. ...the Helmsleys' charmed life ended in 1988 when they were hit with tax-evasion charges. Harry's health and memory were so poor that he was judged incompetent to stand trial. His wife, after an eight-week trial, was convicted of evading $1.2 million in federal taxes by billing Helmsley businesses for personal expenses ranging from her underwear to $3 million worth of renovations to the Dunellen Hall estate in Connecticut. Sentenced to four years in prison, she tried to avoid jail by pleading that Harry might die without her at his side. Her doctor said that prison might kill her because of high blood pressure and other problems. (At a March 1992 hearing, the judge rejected that argument and even ordered her to surrender on April 15 - tax day.) Helmsley served a total of 21 months and was released in January 1994. She had 150 hours added to her 750 hours of community service because employees had done some of the chores for her. The Helmsleys' charitable gifts may have run to the tens of millions, but people who dealt with them spoke bitterly of being stiffed. One of them, a painting contractor, said Leona Helmsley wouldn't pay an $88,000 bill for work on Dunellen Hall because she was entitled to a "commission" for the $800,000 worth of other jobs he got in Helmsley buildings. After making a sales clerk rewrite a bill for earrings to save $4 in sales tax, she reportedly said: 'That's how the rich get richer.' "

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Richard Derks
16 years ago

She was a very remarkable person. She stood out, and was never hiding her ambition.

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