http://m.nydailynews.com/new-york/porn-k...rticle-1.319185Porn king's staying powerBRIAN KATESDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER08/16/2008 8:55 PM ET
New York.Undisputed prince of porn made a fortune in the sleaze of old Times Square, and now he hopes to make millions more from its Disneyfication.
Octogenarian sex peddler Richard Bascianosays "some of the biggest developers in the country" are haggling with him over his infamous Show World building at 42nd St. and Eighth Ave.
He's also talking with a top Broadway organization about building a legitimate 3,500-seat theater in the spot where men once paid to watch undulating strippers behind glass screens.
But, in his first interview in more than 30 years, Basciano says he fears his partner, comedy kingJamie Masada, may ruin his chances for a deal.
In a Manhattan Federal Court lawsuit, Masada charges Basciano created "an atmosphere of intimidation" and secretly pocketed millions since 2003, after they became 5-0/50 partners in a branch of Masada's famed Laugh Factory in the Show World building.
Masada's allegations, first reported in the Daily News, include a pulled gun, threats and coerced contract signings.
Saying he is "hurt" by Masada's "distortions," Basciano - who at 83 still spars regularly with a trainer - has come out fighting.
"It's not my style to intimidate anyone," the soft-spoken, silver-haired ex-boxer said. "I'm really taken aback by his lies."
As Basciano tells it, sitting in his memorabilia-stuffed office on the fifth floor of the building: "We had not a good relationship but a great relationship."
He points to a framed Ellis Island Medal of Honor with a photo of Masada, Basciano and Basciano's wife. The comedy whiz received the award in 2006 and gave it to Basciano, saying, "You deserve this more than me," Basciano recalled.
Both invested $500,000 in the comedy venture, and Basciano says he spent "in excess of $3 million" to transform the labyrinth of peep booths and strip stages into five auditoriums with a dinner theater, kitchen and handicapped bathrooms.
The aging pornographer says Masada knew all about Basciano's past.
The Baltimore native started selling dirty magazines in New York in the early 1960s. By the mid-'80s, his empire was worth a reported $10 million a year, despite the 1981 arrest of his partners Theodore Rothstein and Robert DiBernardo on federal obscenity charges. In 1986, DiBernardo was killed, purportedly on orders of mob boss John Gotti.
Basciano says he was "surprised" to learn of their mob ties.
His only criminal blot is a 1968 no-contest plea to federal mail fraud charges from a store-coupon scam while working for a Baltimore newspaper. He was fined $750 and put on probation.
In the late '90s, Basciano made about $14 million - "less than market value" - from the state condemnation of his buildings. He still nurtures a grudge against smut-busting former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
"I am his nemesis," he says. The wily Basciano skirted the city's anti-porn law and saved Show World by cutting its sex stock by 60%.
What remains - rack upon rack of X-rated DVDs, magazines, sex toys and neon signs touting peep booths at 25 cents a thrill - is the last vestige of the old tenderloin.
Basciano briefly ran a night club in the building, but closed it in 2003 because "it attracted people with drugs." That's when he turned to Masada, who he said assured him they could top the tens of millions made at Caroline's Comedy Club in Times Square.
Although Masada claims his partner hid millions in profits, Basciano insists the club was not making money.
I blame Mr. Masada's inability to manage," he said, ticking off a list: He said Masada turned down a theater tenant who offered $20,000 a month, charged too little for food and drinks (Basciano said he fixed that by upping prices 40%), killed a potentially lucrative deal withComcast and failed to pay $1.5 million in rent.
Of the allegedly coerced 2007 deal that Masada charges cut his profit share by 25%, Basciano said: "Why would I force Mr. Masada to sign an agreement in which I am giving him $100,000 a year, and whatever profits are made, 50% will go to him and me and 50% to the back rent?"
Basciano said Masada wants to get rid of him so he can open another Laugh Factory in New York with other investors.
Masada did not return calls and his attorney,Gregg Mashberg, declined to comment.
These days, "Times Square Arts Center, All-Star Comedy" appears on the marquee where "Laugh Factory" once flashed.
"I could put girls in there and be within the law," Basciano said. "But I enjoy at this stage of my life...to be part-owner of a comedy club."
The building, in trust for his children and grandchildren, is his legacy, he said. He hopes to develop the site through a 99-year ground lease or to enter into a joint venture.
Times Square Alliance President Tim Tompkinscalled Basciano "honest, straightforward," and said "there may be some nostalgia" if Show World disappears.
The 16,700-square foot building could be worth as much as $600 a square foot - "on par with the most expensive" real estate in the city, said Peter Van Der Ahe, of Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services.
"I'm 83 years old and, God bless me, I keep getting up off the floor before the count of 10," Basciano said. "I'm getting up a little slower, but I'm getting up."
