New York City Philanthropist Astor Dies

Philanthropist Brooke Astor is escorted by former secretary of state Henry Kissinger from private funeral services in New York for William S. Paley in this Oct. 29, 1990. Astor, the civic leader, philanthropist and high society fixture who gave away nearly $200 million to support the city's great cultural institutions and a host of humbler projects, died of pneumonia at her suburban estate Monday, Aug. 13, 2007 at 105. (AP Photo/Mike Albans, File) (Mike Albans - AP)

NEW YORK -- Brooke Astor was the grande dame of New York City society and philanthropy _ a woman as comfortable in a Harlem youth center as she was in a Fifth Avenue penthouse.

She hobnobbed with the queen of England and showed up on the streets of drug-ravaged neighborhoods to donate her fortune. In the course of her rarefied existence, she gave away nearly $200 million.

Her life's motto summed up her prodigious generosity in nine words: "Money is like manure, it should be spread around."

One of city's most recognized ladies, Astor, 105, died Monday of pneumonia at Holly Hill, her Westchester County estate, family lawyer Kenneth Warner said.

Her death reverberated throughout New York _ and beyond.

"Brooke was a great philanthropist, and a great lady, and we'll not see the likes of her again," said former first lady Nancy Reagan, noting that Astor "was very close to my entire family."

"I've known her since I was 14," said Reagan. "In fact, when my mother died, Brooke told me, `I know no one can replace your mother, Nancy, but I'd like to try.'"

"Brooke was a truly remarkable woman and an irreplaceable friend," longtime family friend David Rockefeller said. "She was the leading lady of New York in every sense of the word."

Although a legendary figure in New York City and feted with a famous gala on her 100th birthday in March 2002, Astor was mostly interested in putting the fortune that husband, Vincent Astor, left to use where it would do the most to alleviate human misery.

Her efforts won her a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, in 1998.

Brooke Astor gave millions of dollars to what she called the city's "crown jewels" _ among them the New York Public Library, Carnegie Hall, the Museum of Natural History, Central Park, the Bronx Zoo and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the flags were lowered to half-staff after her death.

But she also funded scores of smaller projects: Harlem's Apollo Theater; a new boiler for a youth center; beachside bungalow preservation; a church pipe organ; furniture for homeless families moving into apartments.