R.I.P. New York's King of Porn is Dead

[Bladewire]

R.I.P. Richard Basciano

Another good guy that fought in court for the right of freedom of expression in porn. We all benefit from trailblazers like this. R.I.P.

side note: Death of the porn king may finally end the sex industry in Times Square

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Richard Basciano, the Manhattan landlord once dubbed New York's king of porn for the collection of XXX establishments he operated in Times Square, died Monday night. He was 92. The cause of death was not immediately known, but Basciano was reported to be in poor health in recent months. His death was confirmed by family member and attorney John Ehrhart, who said Basciano died "suddenly and unexpectedly."

Basciano's death throws into question the fate of the highly valuable real estate he owned, including a trio of rundown buildings between West 42nd and West 43rd streets along Eighth Avenue.

Basciano was reluctant to discuss his plans for the property in detail because he felt the media had treated him unfairly in the past.

"Statements have been made about me, but just look at my track record," he said during the call. "I was never dishonest. We always paid our taxes and never got in trouble. I never did anything that was unkind or unfair. But we didn't get the best press."

But Basciano did not end up closing Show World during the final months of his life. "I don't think he wanted to close Show World out of loyalty to the longtime employees who worked there," said Erica Dubno, a partner at Fahringer & Dubno, a law firm that defended XXX businesses from regulation and litigation launched by the city in the 1990s to curb the porn industry. "Richard was a very savvy businessman who treated his employees wonderfully."

Basciano was one of the chief financial backers of the Coalition for Free Expression, a group of sex-shop owners that hired Dubno and her late law partner, Herald Price Fahringer, to represent the industry in its efforts to beat back city rules to relegate XXX stores to far-flung industrial-zoned areas. The industry eventually won the right to continue operating in heavily trafficked, central locations like Times Square, provided less than 40% of the merchandise was sex-related.

"Richard very much believed in preserving and maintaining free speech and expression," Dubno said. "He was a strong supporter of the First Amendment."

New York's king of porn Richard Basciano dead | Crain's New York Business

[directfiesta]

Golden Years of porn .... great times!

[AndyA]

Go with God Richard

this guy did it when jail was a REAL possibility... bad ass

[The Porn Nerd]

Show World was the first porn place I ever visited (at 18). Times Square area now is all Disney. I miss "the good old days" with drugs, whores and sex shops in Times Square. LOL It was more fun back then. Now it's all Japanese tourists flocking to the M&M store. Pathetic.

R.I.P. Richard and thanks for fighting the good fight.

[directfiesta]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

Show World was the first porn place I ever visited (at 18). Times Square area now is all Disney. I miss "the good old days" with drugs, whores and sex shops in Times Square. LOL It was more fun back then. Now it's all Japanese tourists flocking to the M&M store. Pathetic.

R.I.P. Richard and thanks for fighting the good fight.

Remember the guys moping the floor .... So many babies could have been borned ....

[JFK]

Originally Posted by directfiesta

Remember the guys moping the floor .... So many babies could have been borned ....

RIP

[Bladewire]

A touching tribute video here, not yet on YouTube.

[MiamiBoyz]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

Show World was the first porn place I ever visited (at 18). Times Square area now is all Disney. I miss "the good old days" with drugs, whores and sex shops in Times Square. LOL It was more fun back then. Now it's all Japanese tourists flocking to the M&M store. Pathetic.

R.I.P. Richard and thanks for fighting the good fight.

Indeed, this whole country has become a pussified PC shallow Disneyland but what can you expect from a God fearing country built on a repressive conservative religion that hates sex!

Men like this are few and now there is one less to fight the good fight!

[Rochard]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

Show World was the first porn place I ever visited (at 18). Times Square area now is all Disney. I miss "the good old days" with drugs, whores and sex shops in Times Square. LOL It was more fun back then. Now it's all Japanese tourists flocking to the M&M store. Pathetic.

R.I.P. Richard and thanks for fighting the good fight.

I most likely visited his place too. When I was a kid growing up in NJ we used to take the bus into NYC, which brought to Grand Central Station - 42nd street, etc. It's amazing how back then a fifteen year kid could walk into such a place and no one would question it.

[romeo22]

Another porn legend is off ...RIP

[xXXtesy10]

Originally Posted by romeo22

Another porn legend is off ...RIP

[The Porn Nerd]

Originally Posted by directfiesta

Remember the guys moping the floor .... So many babies could have been borned ....

Yes I remember the intense smell of those mops to this day! Like bleach and some kind of mega-goo-cleaner. It's unforgettable. LOL

Originally Posted by Rochard

I most likely visited his place too. When I was a kid growing up in NJ we used to take the bus into NYC, which brought to Grand Central Station - 42nd street, etc. It's amazing how back then a fifteen year kid could walk into such a place and no one would question it.

Yeah Show World was/is (for now?) on the corner of 42nd and 8th Ave, right across from the Port Authority. Talk about convenient! I didn't have the guts to go in until I was 18 but I still remember (and miss) the false ego boost of all these half-naked girls saying how cute I was when I walked past their glass booths. LOL They stood or sat on a stool outside and tried to entice you to go into the booth, slip then a $5 and then they would play with themselves and you could whack off with only a piece of glass between you.

Ahh damn the good ol' sleazy days!!
I bet they tear it down and put up a Taco Bell.

The funny part? Is in the '90's they made Show World remove 60% of the porn mags and VHS tapes and replace them with Disney and documentaries! So you would walk in and have to go past all the kiddie cartoon DVDs to get to the back where the porn was. LOL

Fucking insane.

[lys11]

Found that out just now...
RIP

[escorpio]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

Show World was the first porn place I ever visited (at 18). Times Square area now is all Disney. I miss "the good old days" with drugs, whores and sex shops in Times Square. LOL It was more fun back then. Now it's all Japanese tourists flocking to the M&M store. Pathetic.

R.I.P. Richard and thanks for fighting the good fight.

I'm glad I got to NY before it got ruined. Show World was the first place I visited in Manhattan.

[Bladewire]

Originally Posted by The Porn Nerd

Yes I remember the intense smell of those mops to this day! Like bleach and some kind of mega-goo-cleaner. It's unforgettable. LOL



Yeah Show World was/is (for now?) on the corner of 42nd and 8th Ave, right across from the Port Authority. Talk about convenient! I didn't have the guts to go in until I was 18 but I still remember (and miss) the false ego boost of all these half-naked girls saying how cute I was when I walked past their glass booths. LOL They stood or sat on a stool outside and tried to entice you to go into the booth, slip then a $5 and then they would play with themselves and you could whack off with only a piece of glass between you.

Ahh damn the good ol' sleazy days!!
I bet they tear it down and put up a Taco Bell.

The funny part? Is in the '90's they made Show World remove 60% of the porn mags and VHS tapes and replace them with Disney and documentaries! So you would walk in and have to go past all the kiddie cartoon DVDs to get to the back where the porn was. LOL

Fucking insane.

Funny how times change! Maybe this generation will remiss about the days of free porn on the internet