A success story on the contrary: how a rich heiress came to live on a park bench

Marianne Friedman-Foote spends almost every night wrapped up in a sleeping bag in New York's Central Park, just a mile from the $10 million Park Avenue apartment she grew up in. 63-year-old Marianne was once a girl from high society, the heiress and granddaughter of an influential textile businessman in Manhattan. She had a housekeeper, studied ballet and graduated from a prestigious private school. But after the death of his mother, life went downhill, and the family fortune flowed through his fingers. The woman experienced depression, heroin addiction, and in August she was evicted from her home. Now she spends the night in the park.

"I grew up in a house with a reception hall. Shit happens, doesn't it?" says Marianne in an interview with the New York Post. With her husband Frank, they settled north of the pond in Central Park. They store things in garbage bags and sleep on foam mattresses.

The woman grew up in a house at 940 Park Avenue. Her family owned a huge apartment of 370 square meters in a beautiful Art Deco house. Now this apartment is worth $ 10 million. However, it had to be sold for only $ 3 million after the death of Marianne's mother. She spent the money with her sister Georgia. The girls were the granddaughters of Isidore Kaplan, a wealthy entrepreneur from Manhattan who owned a fabric manufacturing business.

Marianne Friedman in 1971 after graduating from high school.

Then Marianne left her home. She graduated from Boston University, became a nurse and got married for the first time. Her daughter Giselle was born. But about 30 years ago, Marianne's husband, who served in the FBI, had to move to New York for work. They returned to the area where Marianne grew up, and soon divorced. The ex-husband went to Florida and took Giselle.

Marianne has not seen her daughter since the girl was three years old. "I can tell what she was wearing the day she left. She was wearing a blue T-shirt and a bottom with white crosses, checkers on the sides, like this. I can still see her. It gnaws at me every day. Especially when I see children in the park. It's not good. There is no time for sarcasm here. Let's change the subject, please."

The woman lost contact with her mother and sister, who, as Marianne herself says, believed that her ex-husband should get custody of Giselle. Marianne was depressed. She became addicted to heroin when she was in her forties and took methadone four times a week for six years. After the death of her mother, having shared an inheritance of $ 3 million with her sister, Marianne met her current husband Frank. He is 59 years old, he is a builder. The couple married in 2000 and bought a house in Amityville on Long Island, but lost their home during the financial crisis.

"We just spent Mom's money like crazy," says Marianne. As a result, the family stopped to stay at the house of a friend who introduced them, Donna Eltinger. She had cirrhosis and lung cancer. Marianne and Frank began to take care of her. Donna died three years ago, and in August the couple was kicked out of her apartment.

The house where Marianne once lived.

Marianne and Frank stay with friends whenever possible, and the woman tries not to lose her sense of humor and presence of mind. "I don't believe in suicide, but if I can't find some piece of humor, at least something, I'll climb the tallest tree and jump off. I need to find something that will help me get through all this," says Marianne.