Richard Basciano (July 16, 1925 – May 1, 2017) was an American property developer active in New York City and Philadelphia.Forum Theater almost completely razed; neighbors next in line, by Alex Rudinski, Philadelphia Real Estate Blog, 1 March 2013 Basciano was born in 1925 in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, Maryland, where his father was a professional boxer. In the 1960s, Basciano began selling pornography around New York in partnership with

Gambino crime family The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Ame ...

mobster Robert DiBernardo. In the 1970s and 1980s, Basciano's real estate empire was centered on the Show World Center, New York's largest and oldest sex emporium. He was dubbed the "porn king of Times Square" in press reports.The Fading Neon of Times Square's Sex Shops;Elusive, Undisputed King of Midtown Pornography May Be Forced Out of Business, by Dan Barry, New York Times, 28 October 1995 Perhaps his best-known property in Philadelphia was the Forum Theatre, an adult theatre. In early June 2013, a building controlled by Basciano at 2136 Market Street in Philadelphia collapsed during demolition, killing six and injuring thirteen. In early 2017, he was among those found to be liable for the disaster. By the mid-1990s, the

adult entertainment The sex industry (also called the sex trade) consists of businesses that either directly or indirectly provide sex-related products and services or adult entertainment. The industry includes activities involving direct provision of sex-related ...

industry was undergoing rapid change. Efforts by the city to sanitize Times Square compounded the widespread adoption of VCRs. Operating through ''STB Investment Group'' and other firms, Basciano sold his properties as neighborhoods became gentrified. Basciano died on May 1, 2017, in New York City at the age of 91.

References

1925 births 2017 deaths American entertainment industry businesspeople American real estate businesspeople Gambino crime family Businesspeople from Baltimore {{US-business-bio-1920s-stub