Victim in fatal subway push was Blackstone CEO’s housekeeper

New York Post – by Dana Schuster and Natalie O’Neill

The woman who was shoved to her death at Times Square station Monday spent decades as the housekeeper for billionaire Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman’s family, his heartbroken daughter told the Post Tuesday.

Connie Watton, 49 — who was pushed in front of a moving train by a schizophrenic woman in an unprovoked attack — worked for the business mogul and his family for 30 years, Zibby Schwarzman said.  

“My whole family is really sad and shocked. It’s horrifying. I almost threw up on the street. It’s murder. She was murdered,” Schwarzman said.

“I guess, intellectually, you know things like this happen but to someone so close who is part of the fabric of every single day of your life and for something so senseless and so random, it makes me want to pack my bags and get out of New York,” she said — adding Watton was part of the family.

“She was a part of every holiday. She was just a part of every piece of life since I was nine years old,” she said.

Watton, who emigrated from the Philippines, was a skilled cook who worked for years at the Schwarzman home on Park Avenue, said Schwarzman, who lives in New York and is the CEO the crumb cake business Nene’s Treats.

After her parents divorced in 1990, Watton continued to work at the Park Avenue home with Schwarzman’s mom and stepfather, she said.

“She was really outgoing and friendly and helpful and just wanted to be really close to everybody. She was such a doer, never seemed to get tired of anything. She was always willing to go the extra mile for everyone. Just super hardworking, really smart, super capable and friendly,” she said.

Schwarzman’s mother and stepdad even served as stand-in parents for Watton’s second wedding, she said.

“She was sad because her own family couldn’t be there, so my mom and stepdad gave her away at her wedding in New Jersey,” she said. “My kids were in her [second] wedding as ringbearer and flower girl … My kids ask for her all the time.”

Watton also took care of Schwarzman during a taxing pregnancy, she said.

“When I was on bed-rest with our twins, she would come over and cook me all these amazing meals and bring them to me in bed when I couldn’t get up,” she said.

And Watton’s delicious roasted chicken brightened up the holidays, she said.

“Every holiday she would make roast chicken for my family and these really great crispy roast potatoes. All my friends would come over and she would teach them how to make her famous roast chicken,” she said.

Stephen Schwarzman’s son, Teddy Schwarzman, also took to Facebook to pay respects to the his “surrogate mother” Tuesday.

“One of the best people in the world, Connie Watton, was murdered yesterday,” he wrote. “Connie came to America legally from the Philippines when she was 18 years old, became an US citizen, and has had one job for her entire short life – working in my family’s home as a housekeeper, friend and surrogate mother for the past thirty years.”

Teddy Schwarzman, whose dad was named 113th on Forbes World’s Billionaires List, said the family is torn up over her death.

“There aren’t really words for something like this. Connie was the sweetest, nicest, most caring woman I’ve ever met, who only did good with her life and our family was blessed to have had time with her,” he wrote.

“She has met a brutal and unfair fate that has left our family in shock. If anyone knows an incredible mental health foundation, hospital or program to support, please provide suggestions in comments. No one deserves this outcome, and as a society, we need to address it,” Schwarzman wrote.

Watton was allegedly pushed to her death by Melanie Liverpool, 30, who suffers from schizophrenia on Monday afternoon at Times Square station.

http://nypost.com/2016/11/08/victim-in-fatal-subway-push-was-blackstone-ceos-housekeeper/