Harry Helmsley

About Harry Helmsley

Harry B. Helmsley (March 4, 1909 – January 4, 1997) was a real estate mogul who built a company that became one of the biggest property holders in the United States. Part of his company's portfolio at one time included the Empire State Building, The Helmsley 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.

His wife, Leona Helmsley — notoriously called the "Queen of Mean" — was convicted in 1989 on federal charges of tax evasion in a celebrated trial. Harry had been indicted along with Leona, but it was determined that he was far too ill physically to stand trial and too weak mentally to be capable of assisting his attorneys in his own defense, one of the legal standards which allows crimes to go unprosecuted on the grounds of mental defect of the defendant.

In 1980, Mr. Helmsley received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."