Queen Bess
Page 48
Nancy was hoping that by the time she returned from her vacation the press and the public would have forgotten about the case and she could get on with her life. The wounds the divorce and the ensuing public drama had inflicted on Nancy’s family would take time to heal. The case had taken a heavy toll on Nancy’s five children. Just a few days before the case went to the jury, one of her three children from her previous marriage, twenty-six-year-old Steven, living in California, publicly condemned Nancy, saying that her greed and selfishness, not Bess, had been responsible for the breakup of her marriage to Andy.
The bitter denunciation, printed on Friday, December 16, in the New York Post under the byline of Bess’s friend, columnist Cindy Adams, divided Nancy’s family even more. The following Monday Nancy’s other two children from her previous marriage told the Post that they had severed their relationship with their brother. “I am truly ashamed, but not totally surprised, that my brother said what he did,” Nancy’s eldest daughter, Helené, said. “My brother has always been driven by greed, and maybe he believes that the best way to guarantee his financial future is to sing Andy’s praises and put down our mother.”
With the federal case lost in an acquittal Nancy dropped a multimillion-dollar civil racketeering case that she had brought against Andy, Bess, Hortense Gabel, and the city of New York, charging them with defrauding her by scheming to lower her alimony payments. She was continuing, however, to battle insurance companies in court over her divorce settlement.
Even though an appeals court had awarded Nancy $6.4 million, she learned months later that Andy had arranged their affairs so that she would not be able to collect a penny of it. Almost all of their money was tied up in three Long Island properties and in the couple’s luxurious Fifth Avenue apartment. Before going off to federal prison in June of 1987, Andy had arranged to turn over the properties to his creditors—mostly insurance companies that held the bonds for his major sewer construction projects. As a result his creditors would get the proceeds from the sale of those properties—including the Fifth Avenue apartment, on the market at the time for $7.5 million. Since Nancy had signed her name as a co-guarantor for the sewer projects before her marital problems began, the insurance companies contended that she too was liable for paying the bonds.
After fighting Andy in divorce court, she now finds herself fighting insurance companies. Her alimony ended when her divorce became final in 1985, and she is now making ends meet as a $100,000-a-year realtor in Manhattan. At the end of 1989 the case was still unresolved and wending its way through the courts. It is entirely possible that she could end up without a dime from Andy.
On the day after the verdict Judge Gabel received a steady stream of well-wishers at her East Side apartment. She also met with a few reporters to discuss the case. At the end of their interview as they were about to leave, one of them asked the judge whether she thought that Bess had been trying to influence her decisions in the Capasso divorce case, as the prosecution had alleged.
“It’s possible,” the judge conceded in a startling response. Her two-word acknowledgment appeared to undermine the defense’s contention that Sukhreet’s hiring and the lowering of Andy’s alimony payments were unrelated because she was unaware that Bess and Andy were lovers at the time.
Had Judge Gabel known of that relationship, she should have removed herself from the Capasso case immediately. New York’s judicial canon of ethics expressly forbids judges from mixing their personal business with their official duties.
From the testimony presented during the trial it is difficult to believe that Judge Gabel didn’t know Bess and Andy were lovers and that Bess’s sudden interest in Sukhreet Gabel had nothing to do with the fact that Judge Gabel was presiding over Andy’s divorce. Both Bess and the judge were veteran city political figures who had been practicing the you-scratch-my-back-and I’ll-scratch-your-back school of politics for decades. In that school of politics words are not always necessary to strike a deal.
In the months after the trial Judge Gabel thought about looking for another job, possibly as a mediator. Instead she chose retirement.
After climbing into a taxi outside the courthouse, Bess headed uptown to the Upper East Side to celebrate her acquittal at the home of her good friend, Sandy Stern. In the company of a few close friends she toasted her victory with a shot of vodka.
The following day she talked with Andy over the telephone. She would visit him at the federal detention center in lower Manhattan several times over the next two weeks before he returned to Allenwood. He had six months to go before completing his sentence for income tax evasion and returning to New York to rebuild his sewer business, which he had left in the hands of a trusted nephew.
Bess continued to live at Andy’s huge Park Avenue duplex apartment until just a few weeks before his release from prison on June 26, 1989, when she returned alone to her smaller, two-bedroom apartment off Fifth Avenue. Andy wanted time and space to start his life over again. No one, including Bess, seemed to know what would become of their relationship now that he was finally free. They were seen early in the summer in the Hamptons. By August, however, the gossip columns were reporting that Andy and Bess were apart. Although he was no longer seeing the former model who had visited him in jail, he was spotted with a woman the New York Daily News described as “a younger version of Bess.” Then, by the end of the summer, Bess and Andy were together again.
In looking back over the events in her life, Bess once wondered aloud whether her troubles were a confirmation of the old Jewish superstition her mother had warned her about as a child—that the “evil eye” jinxes anyone too rich, too beautiful, and too successful. It was an easy way of absolving herself of responsibility for her downfall.
Sukhreet’s hiring arose out of the corrupting influences of power. Politics is a business of trading favors, and in the New York of the 1980s the lines of ethics and legality were blurred both in city government and on Wall Street. In that milieu Bess’s hiring of Sukhreet was business as usual.
Bess was also beset by weaknesses and character flaws that caused her problems throughout her life, and those flaws may help to explain her rise and fall. She had a tremendous need to control people and situations. She remained anxious about money even after she had become a millionaire many times over. And her years as a powerful figure in government and politics made her an imperious and demanding taskmaster who expected to get what she wanted.
It was almost as if the fierce ambition that had propelled her to fame and fortune was also responsible for her troubles. In the later years of her life she became obsessive about getting what she wanted—whether it was the man who rejected her for a younger woman, control over her boyfriend’s divorce case, or $44 worth of merchandise from a discount store in Pennsylvania.
At the same time, her shoplifting and her other erratic behavior suggest that Bess may have been crying out for help. She had never seemed able to overcome the feelings of inadequacy that stemmed from her complicated relationship with her mother. Her shoplifting could be seen as an attempt to sabotage her own success to prove that her mother was right and that she did not deserve the admiration and accolades that she had received for so long.
Although Bess was acquitted of all charges, her ordeal forever tarnished the image of the beautiful and accomplished woman that she had polished for so long. The reign of Queen Bess had come to an end. But when I spoke with Bess in the months following the trial, she seemed almost relieved that she no longer had to project the image of the perfect woman that came with her crowning as Miss America in 1945. Forty years is a long time to have to maintain the larger-than-life public persona called Bess Myerson.
After almost two years in seclusion, however, she has returned to the social circuit, appearing once again on Andy’s arm in the fall of 1989 at charity balls and at parties at the Rainbow Room and Tavern on the Green. On Saturday, October 7, Bess and Andy made a public appearance and posed for photographers at a dinner sponsored by the Co
lumbus Society at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. At the same dinner was Rudolph Giuliani, but he was seated across the crowded room and did not run into Bess or Andy that night.
At last, Bess no longer seems to hear her mother, Bella, demand that she continue to achieve. “Everybody asks me, ‘So, what are you doing now?’” she told New York Post columnist Cindy Adams. “Why must I be doing something? All my life I’ve been doing something. All my life I’ve been doing. For now, I’m being—being quiet, being grateful. Finally, finally, it’s time for me. Not the public Bess Myerson, the private me.”
Notes
These chapter notes do not include all of the names of the more than two hundred people interviewed for this book or all of the documents and published sources consulted. They are intended to provide readers with an overview of the author’s sources of information.
Chapter 1: A Fall from Grace
Most of the material in this chapter comes from my own reporting and observations that day. I covered Bess Myerson’s arraignment on October 15, 1987, as a reporter for New York Newsday, and I later interviewed her for the newspaper. Several of the details included in this chapter were provided by my colleagues who were also there: Paul Moses, Anthony DeStefano, Christopher Hatch, Marcia Kramer, Gail Collins, Jack Newfield, Gabe Pressman, and Doug Johnson. In addition, I drew from an unpublished interview that Bess Myerson gave in 1987 to another journalist who requested anonymity.
Page 1. She was shocked: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 2. In her prayers she asked her mother and father: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 3. she thought it would be best to go to the courthouse without Helen: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 4. She thought Sukhreet looked like a clown: Bess Myerson, unpublished interview with confidential source, 1987.
Chapter 2: A Shtetl in the Bronx
Much of the history and details about life in the 1920s and 1930s at the Sholem Aleichem Cooperative Houses and Bess’s early life comes from more than two dozen interviews with Bess’s childhood friends, former neighbors, Bronx historians, and relatives of the Myersons who grew up at the Sholem Aleichem Cooperative Houses. Bess Myerson also talked about her childhood, her family, and growing up in the Bronx during an interview with the author on October 15, 1987. The author also examined state and federal census records, plans for the apartment complex on file at the New York City Department of Buildings, and files in the archives of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and in New York City’s Municipal Archives. In addition, the author consulted numerous clippings from the Bronx Home News, Jewish Daily Forward, New York Post, New York Daily News, New York Herald Tribune, and Boston Globe. The author also obtained material from several books, including Susan Dworkin, Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story (New York: Newmarket Press, 1987); Bronx Museum of the Arts, Building a Borough: Architecture and Planning in the Bronx, 1890–1940 (New York: Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1986); Hutchins Hapgood, The Spirit of the Ghetto: Studies of the Jewish Quarter of New York (New York: Schocken Books, 1966); and Irving Howe, World of Our Fathers (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1976).
Page 7. “See that? …”: Marian Christy, “The Myerson Mood,” Boston Globe, October 28, 1987.
Page 7. “I think I spent a lot of time trying to get my mother’s approval.”: “The Myerson Mood.”
Page 7. she stopped by a Bronx hospital: Bess Myerson, interview with author, fall 1988.
Page 8. Bella Podelaky Myerson arrived in New York: Description of Bella Myerson comes from Susan Dworkin, Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story (New York: Newmarket Press, 1987), 26.
Page 8. December 19, 1922: Date, cause of death, and burial come from Joseph Myerson’s death certificate: New York City Municipal Archives.
Page 8. Family friends remember that the death of Bella’s little boy transformed her: Description of Bella Myerson’s depression after Joseph’s death comes from Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story, 25–27.
Page 8. her mother would tie a red ribbon in her hair: Bebe and Sidney Barkan (cousins who were close to Bella Myerson), interview with author, 1988.
Page 9. Louis Myerson was eighteen when he arrived in New York: Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story, 10.
Page 9. When soldiers descended on the shtetl: Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story, 12–13.
Page 9. “No Catholics, Jews, or dogs”: Bronx Museum of the Arts, Building a Borough: Architecture and Planning in the Bronx, 1890–1940 (New York: Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1986), 60.
Page 10. Bella decided soon after moving in: Bess Myerson, unpublished interview with confidential source, 1987. A similar anecdote is described in Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story, 11.
Page 10. Worried that Helen’s asthma might be exacerbated: Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story, 11.
Page 10. Louis and Bella gave up their five rooms for three: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987. A similar anecdote appears in Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story, 11.
Page 10. Bella and Louis were among the original 135 members: Sholem Aleichem Cooperative Houses file, Archives, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
Page 10. Peretz Kaminsky: Interview with author, 1987.
Page 10. Ruth Singer: Interview with author, 1987.
Page 10. The complex had been designed with artists’ studios: Sholem Aleichem Cooperative Houses file, Archives, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
Page 11. Judy and Sam Sanderoff: Interview with author, 1988.
Page 11. her father stayed above the political divisions: Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story, 18.
Page 11. She recalls marching with her father: Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story, 18.
Page 11. “You had a very safe and secure feeling here.…”: Bess Myerson, unpublished interview with confidential source, 1987.
Page 11. ruled her home with an iron hand and barked out commands: Quotes and description of Bella Myerson are drawn from Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987; unpublished interview with confidential source, 1987; and Bess Myerson, “My Mother, My Piano and Me,” Redbook, June 1974.
Page 11. “I was not allowed to have friends.…”: “The Myerson Mood.”
Page 12. “I realized that people just hugged little girls.…”: Bess Myerson, unpublished interview with confidential source, 1987.
Page 12. “Hey, Stretch …”: Description of Bess’s anxiety about her height comes from “My Mother, My Piano and Me.”
Page 12. She was mortified: Details about the school play come from Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 12. “She taught me discipline.…”: “The Myerson Mood.”
Page 12. an irony to Bella’s nagging: Information on Bella’s habits comes from Riva Lieberman, interview with author, 1988, and from Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story, 27–32.
Page 12. “My mother and father lived in conflict.…”: Bess Myerson, unpublished interview with confidential source, 1987.
Page 13. “His work was so good.…”: Bess Myerson, interview with author, February 1989.
Page 13. Pearl and Sam Pochoda: Interview with author, 1988.
Page 13. the cooperative went bankrupt: Sholem Aleichem Cooperative Houses file, Archives, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
Page 13. the residents of Sholem Aleichem did not go sheepishly into tenancy: Details about rent strike come from Sholem Aleichem Cooperative Houses file, Archives, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Building a Borough: Architecture and Planning in the Bronx, 1890–1940, 76.
Page 14. “independently poor”: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 14. “Baby, I would give it to you.…”: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 14. Bella saw music as a way: Details about the importance she attached
to music come from “My Mother, My Piano and Me.”
Page 15. “You don’t appreciate it now.…”: Quotes and details on Bella and Bess are drawn from “My Mother, My Piano and Me” and from Bess Myerson, unpublished interview with confidential source, 1987.
Page 15. “She was like Ingrid Bergman.…”: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 15. Mrs. LaFollette’s elegant apartment: Ruth Singer, interview with author, 1987.
Page 15. “It’s not the altitude, Bess; it’s the attitude.”: “My Mother, My Piano and Me.”
Page 15. Her father had declined her pleas: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 15. “I don’t know what you’re planning to wear.…”: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 15. Tension hung in the air: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 15. “Walk fast and don’t forget to breathe.…”: “My Mother, My Piano and Me.”
Page 16. dreamed of becoming a concert pianist: Bess Myerson, interview with author, October 15, 1987.
Page 16. “My mother wanted for me what she never had.…”: “The Myerson Mood.”
Chapter 3: Beauty from the Bronx
Among the people interviewed for this chapter were Murray Panitz, Ruth Singer, Shirley Schwartz, Marjorie Wallis, three other high school classmates, two college classmates, and a former music teacher. Details about Hunter College come from material in the college’s archives. Other sources include newspaper clippings and an unpublished interview Bess Myerson granted to another journalist in 1987. Material was also obtained from Susan Dworkin, Miss America, 1945: Bess Myerson’s Own Story (New York: Newmarket Press, 1987), and Benjamin M. Steigman, Accent on Talent: New York’s High School of Music and Art (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1964).