Sy Syms’ heirs fight over $67M fortune
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Richard Syms (left, with wife Eve) denies that his father, Sy (right, with wife Lynn and grandson Jonathan, center), intended to cut him and a sister out of his multimillion-dollar will.
The famed Syms Clothing chain may be bankrupt, but late Brooklyn-born founder Sy Syms still left his kids plenty to fight about — $67 million, to be exact.
Syms’ son Richard, 56, claims in a Manhattan lawsuit that sister Marcy, 63, coerced their ailing dad into completely icing him out of the family fortune amid a long-simmering sibling rivalry.
Even before Dad died, Marcy was busy filling her own pockets, siphoning off $20 million in family money, the Surrogate’s Court suit claims.
“We’re dealing with an individual here like Leona Helmsley,” Richard told The Post, referring to the late real-estate billionaire dubbed the Queen of Mean.
“She’s a shadowy, dark character.”
The siblings’ dad — who became famous for his slogan, “An educated consumer is our best customer” — died of heart failure at age 83 in 2009.
He left the bulk of his estate, $30 million, to his second wife, Lynn; $10 million to his foundation; and at least $8 million to Marcy, the company’s CEO.
Two other children, Robert, 58, and Laura, 55, received $2 million each, and most of Sy’s grandchildren each received $200,000 to pay for their education. The rest, about $14 million, went to taxes.
Richard, a real-estate developer from Westchester, claims that his dad’s 2006 will, which leaves him zilch, is a product of “undue influence” and “fraud” by Marcy.
He says Marcy colluded with Sy’s longtime lawyer to also transfer $20 million of their dad’s assets into her name before Sy died, according to the lawsuit.
Richard notes that their father was suffering from cognitive degeneration and hallucinations in the last years of his life, leaving him vulnerable.
“The crux of the case from my client’s position is that Dad wasn’t well enough when he did his will,” said Richard’s lawyer, Gary Bashian.
Court papers note that one of Sy’s doctors said, “On one occasion [in 2005], Sy asks his wife if she had called her mother, even though her mother had died three to four years earlier.”
Richard said Marcy has manipulated his living siblings into not fighting her because they both have serious health problems.
But the four children of his late brother and sister, who died in 1999 and 2000, have joined him in his estate fight.
Marcy says in court papers that Richard was “estranged” from their father.
“Mr. Syms always intended to leave nothing to his estranged son Richard Syms, as the vitriolic and bitter letter exchanges between them make evident,” Marcy says in court papers.
Richard acknowledged that he once left the family business to strike out on his own in Florida, and when he returned to New York and his dad asked him to rejoin it, he refused. But he said that’s because he didn’t want to work with Marcy.
He added that his dad wouldn’t pay for his daughter’s college after giving money for his son’s education, but that was at the alleged urging of Marcy.
Richard insists he had an “excellent” relationship with his dad.
“Marcy had a close personal and professional relationship with her father for many years, whom she adored. It’s sad that her brother is the only sibling who has chosen to pursue this baseless litigation for the past four years,” said her attorney Lauren Aguiar.
Syms’ son Richard, 56, claims in a Manhattan lawsuit that sister Marcy, 63, coerced their ailing dad into completely icing him out of the family fortune amid a long-simmering sibling rivalry.
Even before Dad died, Marcy was busy filling her own pockets, siphoning off $20 million in family money, the Surrogate’s Court suit claims.
“We’re dealing with an individual here like Leona Helmsley,” Richard told The Post, referring to the late real-estate billionaire dubbed the Queen of Mean.
“She’s a shadowy, dark character.”
The siblings’ dad — who became famous for his slogan, “An educated consumer is our best customer” — died of heart failure at age 83 in 2009.
He left the bulk of his estate, $30 million, to his second wife, Lynn; $10 million to his foundation; and at least $8 million to Marcy, the company’s CEO.
Two other children, Robert, 58, and Laura, 55, received $2 million each, and most of Sy’s grandchildren each received $200,000 to pay for their education. The rest, about $14 million, went to taxes.
Richard, a real-estate developer from Westchester, claims that his dad’s 2006 will, which leaves him zilch, is a product of “undue influence” and “fraud” by Marcy.
He says Marcy colluded with Sy’s longtime lawyer to also transfer $20 million of their dad’s assets into her name before Sy died, according to the lawsuit.
Richard notes that their father was suffering from cognitive degeneration and hallucinations in the last years of his life, leaving him vulnerable.
“The crux of the case from my client’s position is that Dad wasn’t well enough when he did his will,” said Richard’s lawyer, Gary Bashian.
Court papers note that one of Sy’s doctors said, “On one occasion [in 2005], Sy asks his wife if she had called her mother, even though her mother had died three to four years earlier.”
Richard said Marcy has manipulated his living siblings into not fighting her because they both have serious health problems.
But the four children of his late brother and sister, who died in 1999 and 2000, have joined him in his estate fight.
Marcy says in court papers that Richard was “estranged” from their father.
“Mr. Syms always intended to leave nothing to his estranged son Richard Syms, as the vitriolic and bitter letter exchanges between them make evident,” Marcy says in court papers.
Richard acknowledged that he once left the family business to strike out on his own in Florida, and when he returned to New York and his dad asked him to rejoin it, he refused. But he said that’s because he didn’t want to work with Marcy.
He added that his dad wouldn’t pay for his daughter’s college after giving money for his son’s education, but that was at the alleged urging of Marcy.
Richard insists he had an “excellent” relationship with his dad.
“Marcy had a close personal and professional relationship with her father for many years, whom she adored. It’s sad that her brother is the only sibling who has chosen to pursue this baseless litigation for the past four years,” said her attorney Lauren Aguiar.
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