Brooke Astor butler Christopher Ely comes to her defense, rips Anthony Marshall, wife as neglectful
Leo Standora
December 17, 2009
New York Daily News
Brooke Astor’s butler has come to her defense.
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/12/17/2009-12-17_son_broke_astors_spirit_says_butler.html
Christopher Ely portrayed the philanthropist’s fortune-raiding son, Anthony Marshall, and his wife as calculating, cold and neglectful.

In a letter to Supreme Court Justice Kirke Bartley, Ely wrote that in his 10 years working for Astor, he couldn’t recall the socialite’s son or his wife, Charlene, “doing anything for her unless there was something in it for themselves.”

Marshall, 85, was convicted of grand larceny in October for looting his mother’s $185 million estate. He faces at least a year in prison when he’s sentenced Monday.

The letter, obtained by the Daily News, was written as a response to 75 letters vouching for Marshall from people like Whoopie Goldberg and Al Roker, Ely said.

Zeroing in on Roker’s claim that Marshall was “a good son,” Ely wrote that the NBC weatherman’s testimonial “seems strange as in previous reports he said he hardly knew Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, let alone Mrs. Astor.”

At the start of his employment with Astor, Ely described Astor as being “full of life and courageous” with a “wonderful personality, great spirit and caring nature.”

But he said Marshall “broke much of her spirit and trust” by manipulating her into funneling tens of millions of dollars into his pocket.

“She became increasingly paranoid, extremely insecure, deeply depressed, withdrawn and suspicious,” he said.

Before her death in 2007 at age 105, he said Astor was “subjected to vengeful and spiteful acts … feared for her safety and was left scared and broken.”

Brooke Astor Holly Hill estate emptied, household items head for auction
Melissa Grace
December 13, 2009
New York Daily News
http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/2009/12/13/2009-12-13_holly_hill_end_of_era_astor_estate_emptied_and_mothballed.html
Two months after her son was convicted of looting her fortune, Brooke Astor’s beloved Holly Hill estate is empty and her possessions are in storage - and headed for the auction block.

The sprawling mansion of the late famed New York philanthropist is being shuttered to save on “significant” security and maintenance costs as it languishes on the market at a reduced price of $10.5 million, several sources told the Daily News.

“They’re emptying all the treasures, firing all the staff and throwing mothballs in the place,” a source said.

“If we take out the valuables, we save on security,” said another.

The socialite’s son, Anthony Marshall, who stands to inherit the bulk of her possessions and all her real estate, was convicted of grand larceny in October for looting her $185 million estate in the years leading up to her 2007 death, at age 105.

Marshall, 85, faces a minimum of a year in prison when he’s sentenced Dec. 21. After a six-month trial, he owes his lawyers millions, court documents show.

The contents of Holly Hill were estimated to be worth as much as $3.4 million, a source said.

“It will be the Brooke Astor sale,” a person familiar with the situation said of the future auction of Astor’s belongings.

The sale will include artwork, books, furniture and silver remaining in Astor’s spacious Park Ave. duplex, which also remains on the market.

Built in 1927, the 11,000 square-foot house in Briarcliff Manor was stuffed with valuable antiques and personal items.

Among them: a signed photograph of Franklin Delano Roosevelt dedicated to Astor’s late husband, Vincent Astor, and a framed proclamation from President Bill Clinton awarding Brooke Astor the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The furnishings were shuttled into storage by Sotheby’s auction house the week after Thanksgiving.

Because Astor’s will is still being contested, no cash has been released to Marshall and the closing won’t put cash in his pocket - immediately anyway - as her estate pays the bills, lawyers said.

“He thinks it’s a good idea. It saves money for the estate,” Marshall’s lawyer, Ken Warner said. “There is no reason to have a full staff and a fully furnished premises when it’s for sale and no one is living there.”

Astor’s butler, Christopher Ely, who has managed the house since her death, confirmed he will be out of a job Jan. 1.

Three other staffers - including one who worked for the aging doyenne for two decades - are also being let go, sources said.

The Briarcliff Manor property will continue to be shown to prospective buyers.

“It may not be as pretty,” broker David Turner said of the house without its furnishings, but, “sophisticated buyers get it, they understand the value of the land. It’s a stone house.”

“Obviously the property is still going to be maintained,” Warner said. “It’s not as if landscaping people are not going to be involved.”

Even so, the house is a “gut job,” said one source. “When it’s empty, it’s perfectly clear how much work needs to be done.”